•n 


BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

THE 


Military  Occupation 


OF  THE 


Coal  Strike  Zone  of  Colorado  < 


BY  THE 


Colorado  National  Guard 

1913-1914 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMANDING  GENERAL  TO 

THE  GOVERNOR  FOR  THE  USE  OF  THE 

CONGRESSIONAL  COMMITTEE 


Exhibiting  an  Account  of  the  Military  Occupation 

to  the  Time  of  the  First  Withdrawal  of 

the  Troops  in  April,  1914 


PRESS  OF 

THE  SMITH-BROOKS  PRINTING  COMPANY 
DENVER,  COLO. 


(7          0 

THE 

Military  Occupation 


OF  THE 


Coal  Strike  Zone  of  Colorado 


BY  THE 


Colorado  National  Guard 

1913-1914 


REPORT    OF  THE    COMMANDING    GENERAL    TO 

THE  GOVERNOR  FOR  THE  USE  OF  THE 

CONGRESSIONAL  COMMITTEE 


Exhibiting  an  Account  of  the  Military  Occupation 

to  the  Time  of  the  First  Withdrawal  of 

the  Troops  in  April  1914 


PRESS  OF 

THE  SMITH-BROOKS  PRINTING  COMPANY 
DENVER,  COLO. 


FOREWORD 

I  am  directed  to  prefix  to  the  report  that  follows 
a  word  of  explanation. 

A  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
the  Sixty-third  Congress  investigated  strike  condi- 
tions in  Colorado.  They  were  not  investigating  the 
National  Guard,  but  a  mass  of  testimony  was  pre- 
sented to  the  committee  supporting  a  very  bitter 
attack  upon  the  state  troops.  To  this  attack  and  this 
testimony  the  National  Guard  paid  little  or  no  atten- 
tion. At  the  conclusion  of  the  committee's  sittings  in 
Colorado,  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief ,  directed  the  Commanding  General  to 
review  the  testimony  presented  to  the  Congressional 
Committee  and  to  investigate  and  report  the  truth  of 
all  the  charges  and  accusations  made  against  the  mili- 
tary arm  of  the  state.  The  following  report  is  the 
result  of  that  order.  It  was  prepared  by  the  Com- 
manding General  after  careful  investigation,  and 
transmitted  to  the  Congressional  Committee  by  the 
Governor  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  that  body  to  arrive 
at  a  true  and  just  estimate  of  the  military  situation. 
The  Governor's  letter  of  transmittal  accompanying  the 
report  to  Washington  precedes  the  report  itself. 

Inasmuch  as  this  report  exhibits  a  fairly  detailed 
history  of  the  military  occupation  almost  to  the  time 
of  the  first  withdrawal  of  the  troops,  and  contains 
matter  that  cannot  fail  of  interest  to  all  the  people, 
it  was  directed  to  be  printed  in  the  present  form  for 
general  public  distribution. 

EDWARD  J.  BOUGHTON, 

Major  and  Judge  Advocate  of  the 
Military  District  of  Colorado. 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  LETTER 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on  Mines  and 
Mining  of  the  Sixty-third  Congress 

April  6,  1914. 

HON.  M.  D.  FOSTER, 

Chairman,  Mines  and  Mining  Committee, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
DEAR  MR.  FOSTER': 

By  my  direction  General  John  Chase,  command- 
in  g  the  National  Guard  in  the  strike  zone,  has  pre- 
pared a  statement  of  the  operations  of  the  Guard,  and 
I  herewith  enclose  it,  pursuant  to  conversation  I  had 
with  you  at  the  time  of  your  departure  for  Washing- 
ton. I  have  looked  over  this  statement,  and  believe  it 
to  be  a  very  fair  and  reliable  presentation  of  the  facts. 
I  sincerely  hope  it  will  be  of  value  to  your  committee 
in  arriving  at  a  true  understanding  of  the  situation  in 
Colorado. 

With  best  personal  regards,  I  am 
Sincerely  yours, 


REPORT 


OF  THE 


COMMANDING    GENERAL 

TO  THE  GOVERNOR 

FOR  THE  USE  OF 

THE  CONGRESSIONAL  COMMITTEE 


TO  THE  HONORABLE  ELLAS  M.  AMMONS,    ' 

GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF  COLORADO. 

Your  Excellency :  The  Committee  on  Mines  and 
Mining  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  LXIII 
Congress,  having  been  authorized  to  inquire  of  certain 
matters  connected  with  the  present  strike  in  the  coal 
fields  of  Colorado,  and  having  in  their  investigations 
touched  upon  certain  matters  connected  with  the 
military  occupation  and  the  conduct  of  the  Colorado 
National  Guard,  Your  Excellency  directed  me  to  sub- 
mit for  the  use  of  the  Committee  a  brief  report  of  the 
peace  conditions,  military  operations,  conduct  of  the 
troops,  and  such  information  in  my  possession  as 
might  aid  or  interest  the  Committee  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  errand  under  the  House  Resolution. 

Accordingly  and  in  obedience  to  Your  Excel- 
lency's directions,  I  have  made  careful,  and  in  most 
instances  personal,  investigation  along  the  lines  sug- 


6 

gested,  have  accumulated  and  arranged  the  great  mass 
of  information  that  has  come  to  me  as  commander  of 
the  state  troops  in  the  field,  and  beg  leave  to  submit 
the  following  report. 

For  convenience  of  treatment,  the  report  is 
divided  into  the  following  parts : 

I.  The  general  peace  conditions  existing  in  the 
disturbed  region  upon  the  calling  out  of  the  state 
troops. 

II.  A  very  brief  outline  of  the  principal  incidents 
of  the  military  occupation. 

III.  A  succinct  statement  of  certain  military  poli- 
cies  with   respect   to  some  matters   inquired   of   or 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee. 

IV.  A  report  upon  some  specific  incidents  in  the 
conduct  of  the  military,  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  Congressional  Committee. 

An  appendix  is  added  to  the  report,  in  which  are 
collated  and  copied  certain  orders,  reports,  and  other 
documents  referred  to  herein. 


I 

GENERAL  CONDITIONS  AT  THE  OUTSET 

In  1910  a  strike  was  declared  in  Boulder  County, 
Colorado.  This  strike  is  still  in  existence.  Deeds  of 
violence  have  been  committed  by  both  sides  to  the 
controversy  almost  from  the  date  of  the  strike  to  the 
present  time.  The  operators  in  Boulder  County 
repeatedly  called  upon  the  then  Governor  of  the  state, 
Hon.  John  F.  Shafroth,  for  protection  of  their  lives 
and  property.  Controversial  correspondence  was  car- 
ried on  between  the  Governor,  the  sheriff  of  the 
county,  and  the  mayors  of  the  villages  involved,  with 
the  strike  leaders  and  with  the  operators  in  that 
county.  At  times  the  peace  officers  seemed  able  to 
control  the  violent  individuals  on  both  sides  of  the 
controversy,  and  at  other  times  seemed  wholly  unable 
to  do  so.  An  utter  contempt  for  legal  processes  and 
ordinary  peace  measures  has  for  four  years  been  ex- 
hibited in  this  section  of  the  state.  At  one  time  a 
district  judge  incarcerated  for  a  period  of  several 
months  sixteen  strike  leaders  whom  he  adjudged  to  be 
in  contempt  of  his  court  for  flagrantly  and  defiantly 
violating  an  injunction  against  picketing.  This  judg- 
ment was  made  the  occasion  of  a  demonstration  by  the 
strikers  in  parading  around  the  courthouse  in  great 
force,  as  an  intimidation  to  the  civil  authority;  and 
the  doctrine  was  inculcated  that  allegiance  should  be 
paid  to  the  union  rather  than  to  the  state  or  country. 

Because  of  the  failure  to  effect  a  settlement  be- 
tween the  parties  to  the  controversy  in  the  northern 
coal  fields,  a  strike  in  the  southern  zone  was  precipi- 
tated in  August,  1913.  On  account  of  threatened  vio- 


8 

lence  to  the  properties  of  the  operators  and  the  lives 
of  the  workmen  about  the  mines,  the  sheriffs  of  Huer- 
fano  and  Las  Animas  Counties,  being  appealed  to  by 
the  owners  of  the  mines,  placed  on  duty  a  large  num- 
ber of  deputy  sheriffs.  The  strike  leaders  selected  stra- 
tegic points  for  the  establishment  of  the  tent  colonies 
which  were  made  necessary  by  the  departure  of 
strikers  from  their  homes  on  the  mine  premises. 
Nearly  every  one  of  these  tent  colonies  was  so  placed 
that  it  commanded  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from  the 
mines  located  in  the  canon  near  by.  The  location  of 
the  colonies  was  not  an  accident,  and,  in  view  of  the 
statute  regarding  picketing,  it  would  seem  that  it  was 
a  deliberate  attempt,  on  the  part  of  those  responsible 
for  the  placing  of  the  camps,  to  bring  about  a  thorough 
system  of  picketing  without  apparently  violating  the 
law.  The  canvas  for  the  tents  had  hardly  been  raised 
before  deeds  of  violence  were  reported  from  the 
vicinity  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  colonies.  Addi- 
tional mine  guards  were  placed  about  the  properties 
to  secure  the  safety  of  such  workmen  as  were  passing 
the  colonies  to  work.  There  is  no  question  but  that 
there  were  instances  where  the  mine  guards  unneces- 
sarily provoked  the  residents  of  the  tent  colonies. 
These  latter,  in  turn,  seemed  honestly  to  believe  that 
they  and  their  families  were  in  danger  from  the  mine 
guards.  They,  therefore,  armed  themselves  for  pro- 
tection. As  instances  of  violence  increased,  the  op- 
posing parties  to  the  controversy  became  violently 
aroused.  For  at  least  ten  days  prior  to  the  calling 
out  of  the  National  Guard  a  condition  of  absolute 
terror  prevailed  in  the  mining  camps  and  in  the  tent 
colonies.  At  least  four  pitched  battles  occurred,  and 


9 

at  least  nine  men  were  known  to  have  been  murdered 
and  a  large  number  wounded.  The  civil  authorities 
seemed,  and,  indeed,  represented  to  Your  Excellency, 
that  they  were  wholly  unable  to  do  anything  for  the 
preservation  of  peace.  A  large  number  of  battles  had 
taken  place  throughout  the  two  counties.  Anarchy 
reigned  supreme.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  courts 
or  the  civil  peace  officers  whatever.  People  were 
arrested  and  detained  in  the  tent  colonies,  and  the 
sheriff,  armed  with  civil  process,  was  frankly  informed 
that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  serve  it.  With  all 
the  deputies  at  his  command,  the  sheriff  was  unable 
to  discharge  his  usual  duties  without  battle.  This 
awful  state  of  affairs  was  represented  to  Your  Excel- 
lency by  all  of  the  civil  authorities  charged  with  the 
preservation  of  the  peace.  The  sheriffs  of  both  coun- 
ties, the  judge  of  the  District  Court,  mayors,  alder- 
men, county  officers,  and  numerous  citizens — sympa- 
thizers with  each  side  of  the  industrial  conflict — im- 
plored Your  Excellency  to  use  the  power  of  the  state 
to  end  the  open  defiance  of  the  constitution  and  laws. 
Accordingly,  Your  Excellency  directed  me  by 
executive  order  to  mobilize  the  National  Guard,  and 
to  enforce  the  constitution  and  laws,  acting  either  in 
conjunction  with  or  independently  of  the  civil  authori- 
ties, doing  all  such  things  as  in  my  judgment  seemed 
necessary  to  conserve  the  peace  and  vindicate  the  dig- 
nity of  the  state.  I  proceeded  with  the  National 
Guard  to  Huerfano  and  Las  Animas  Counties  on  the 
28th  of  October,  1913.  I  found  the  conditions  even 
worse  than  had  been  described  to  Your  Excellency. 
I  found  two  bodies  of  men  in  large  numbers,  fully 
armed,  with  the  intensest  hatred  of  each  other  in  their 


10 

hearts,  ready  to  fly  at  each  other's  throats.  The  thirst 
for  blood  was  unmistakably  evident,  as  were  the  signs 
of  an  habitual  and  long-continued  disregard  and  con- 
tempt for  all  civil  government.  The  mining  camps 
and  tent  colonies,  though  very  numerous,  were  de- 
tached and  widely  separated  over  two  large  counties, 
the  district  present  ing  a  front  of  about  100  miles.  The 
military  problem  entrusted  to  me  was  interesting. 
With  the  all  too  meager  force  at  my  command,  I  was 
able,  without  bloodshed,  to  occupy  this  territory,  re- 
establish the  constitution,  and  enforce  a  sullen  peace. 
The  problems  that  developed  day  by  day  have  been 
difficult  and  often  delicate,  and  when  the  time  came 
that  there  was  added  to  our  other  difficulties  the 
burden  of  deliberate  deceit  and  misrepresentation, 
widely  promulgated  through  the  press  bureau  of  the 
unions,  our  cup  of  tribulation  nearly  overflowed.  In 
the  discharge  of  our  duties  to  the  state  as  citizens,  this 
volunteer  force  has  had  to  go  on  silently  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  patriotic  errand  entrusted  to  it, 
under  abuse  and  frequent  scurrilous  attacks,  without 
a  press  bureau  for  the  dissemination  of  the  truth, 
often  being  placed  in  false  light  and  false  position 
before  the  public.  But,  at  the  end  of  all,  the  mission 
has  been  accomplished,  and  the  state  may  well  feel 
proud  of  its  National  Guard,  whose  members,  uncom- 
plainingly and  at  the  cost  of  great  personal  sacrifice, 
have  served  the  state  so  well  in  its  hour  of  need. 


II 

HISTORY  OF  OPERATIONS 

Under  this  head  no  attempt  is  made  to  detail  the 
daily  occurrences  and  the  daily  and  even  hourly  devel- 
opments in  the  peace  problem.  Only  a  bare  outline 
of  the  principal  events  can  be  undertaken. 

Having  moved  the  troops  into  the  field  and  find- 
ing the  situation  in  the  disturbed  counties  as  I  have 
indicated  above,  my  first  effort  was  so  to  distribute 
the  relatively  meager  forces  at  my  command  as  to  pro- 
tect the  entire  line  of  one  hundred  miles  front.  Bear- 
ing in  mind  that  my  sole  and  only  object  was  to  carry 
out  the  orders  of  Your  Excellency,  and  enforce  peace 
and  the  observance  of  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State  of  Colorado,  without  reference  to  any  incidental 
effect  upon  either  side  of  the  industrial  conflict,  my 
only  desire  was  to  accomplish  my  mission  without 
bloodshed  or  the  clash  of  arms,  if  possible.  With  two 
regiments  of  infantry — not,  however,  fully  recruited— 
three  troops  of  cavalry,  one  detachment  of  the  field 
artillery,  the  hospital  corps  and  signal  corps,  we 
arrived  in  the  disturbed  region  on  the  morning  of  the 
29th  of  October,  1913. 

I  established  one  base  camp  upon  the  outskirts  of 
the  city  of  Trinidad  in  Las  Animas  County,  and 
another  base  camp  at  Walsenburg  in  Huerfano 
County. 

SOUTHWESTERN  MINE  AND  POST-OFFICE  ARSON 

While  these  necessary  routine  operations  were 
progressing,  and  during  the  night  of  the  29th  of  Oc- 
tober, our  first  day  in  the  field,  a  conspiracy  was 


12 


formed  among  certain  strikers  at  Aguilar,  which  re- 
sulted in  a  band  of  men  going  to  the  near-by  South- 
western mine,  pouring  oil  upon  the  tipple  and  mine 
buildings,  setting  fire  thereto  and  destroying  that 
property,  and  incidentally  the  adjacent  United  States 
post-office,  with  the  mail  contained  therein.  For  a 
long  time  thereafter  it  was  impossible  to  discover  the 
perpetrators  of  this  arson,  but  months  later,  through 
the  efforts  of  the  Judge  Advocate's  office  and  the  Mili- 
tary Commission,  the  offenders  were  apprehended  and 
turned  over  the  United  States  marshal,  upon  the  re- 
quest of  the  Department  of  Justice  of  the  United 
States. 

DISARMAMENT 

On  the  31st  day  of  October,  the  third  day  of  the 
occupation,  when  the  establishment  of  the  military 
camps  was  well  under  way,  I  undertook,  pursuant  to 
Your  Excellency's  express  directions,  to  disarm  both 
sides  of  the  conflict  that  I  found  raging  upon  my 
arrival.  Realizing  that  in  the  event  of  the  conceal- 
ment of  their  weapons  I  would  have  great  difficulty 
in  disarming  the  combatants,  I  consulted  the  strike 
leaders,  including  John  R.  Lawson,  and  obtained 
from  them,  and  especially  from  him,  an  assurance 
that  if  I  first  disarmed  the  mine  guards  employed 
through  the  Baldwin-Felts  Detective  Agency  to  guard 
the  operators'  properties,  the  strikers  would  then 
cheerfully  surrender  the  arms  in  their  possession.  It 
must  be  remembered  that,  upon  our  first  coming  into 
the  field,  the  National  Guard  had  at  least  the  osten- 
sible welcome  and  apparent  cordial  co-operation  of 
the  striking  miners.  Relying  upon  the  assurances 


13 


given  ine  by  Mr.  Lawson  and  the  other  strike  leaders, 
I  proceeded  to  disarm  the  mine  guards  upon  the 
various  properties,  against  whom  the  most  bitter  feel- 
ing of  the  strikers  prevailed.  In  the  disarmament  of 
these  mine  guards  I  had  no  difficulty  whatever.  They 
were  assembled  by  their  employers,  the  operating  com- 
panies, and  promptly  turned  over  the  high-power 
rifles  with  which  they  had  been  supplied.  This  dis- 
armament I  carried  on  with  respect  to  the  mine  guards 
and  employes  of  the  operating  companies  in  every 
camp  throughout  the  entire  strike  zone,  and  speedily 
finished  the  complete  disarmament  of  that  side  of  the 
industrial  conflict. 

It  was  arranged,  upon  the  completion  of  the  dis- 
armament of  the  operators,  that  the  military  receive 
the  arms  of  the  strikers,  and  accordingly,  upon  the  1st 
of  November,  1913,  by  an  agreement  between  myself 
and  the  strike  leaders,  a  parade  of  the  troops  to  the 
tent  colony  at  Ludlow,  by  far  the  largest  of  the 
strikers'  colonies,  was  arranged.  From  all  appear- 
ances the  very  best  feeling  prevailed  between  the 
troops  and  the  strikers.  I  paraded  detachments  of  the 
troops  of  various  arms  within  Las  Animas  County  at 
the  Ludlow  tent  colony,  upon  the  suggestion  and  invi- 
tation of  the  strike  leaders,  including  Mr.  Lawson. 
My  object  was  not  only  to  receive  the  arms  of  the 
strikers,  as  promised,  but  to  occupy  peaceably  and 
with  good  feeling  the  strategic  points  in  the  canons 
about  Ludlow,  which  the  presence  of  so  large  a  body 
of  armed  men  might  have  made  difficult  of  accomplish- 
ment without  bloodshed,  had  my  entrance  been  dis- 
puted. 


14 

The  parade  of  the  troops  at  the  Ludlow  tent 
colony  was  memorable.  The  road  for  a  half-mile  or 
more  between  the  point  of  detraining  and  the  entrance 
to  the  colony  was  lined  on  either  side  by  men,  women, 
and  children.  Many  of  the  men  were  in  the  strange 
costume  of  the  Greek,  Montenegrin,  Servian,  and  Bul- 
garian armies ;  for  the  colony  numbered  among  its  in- 
habitants many  returned  veterans  of  the  Balkan  wars. 
The  little  children  were  dressed  in  white,  as  for  a  Sun- 
day-school picnic.  All  carried  small  American  Hags 
and  sang  continually  the  Union  songs.  Through  this 
line  of  men,  women,  and  children  the  troops  paraded— 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  field  artillery.  Flags  were 
waved  in  welcome,  and  an  improvised  band  of  the 
strikers  heralded  our  approach. 

\Ye  passed  by  Ludlow,  occupied  the  Berwind  and 
Hastings  canons,  and  then  returned  to  the  colony  to 
receive  the  surrender  of  the  hundreds  of  high-power 
rifles  I  knew  the  strikers  to  be  possessed  of.  At  this 
point  occurred  the  first  instance  of  bad  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  striking  people.  Expecting  to  receive 
hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  arms,  there  were  de- 
livered into  my  possession  some  twenty  or  thirty 
weapons,  many  of  them  of  obsolete  pattern,  the 
strikers  topping  oil1  the  humor  of  the  situation  by  in- 
cluding in  the  delivery  of  arms  a  child's  toy  pop-gun. 
Since  that  time  the  recovery  of  the  strikers'  arms  has 
been  attended  with  the  greatest  difficulty;  it  has  been 
a  game  of  hide-and-seek,  and  while  I  have  been  able 
to  recover,  a  few  at  a  time,  a  large  number  of  high- 
power  weapons,  belonging  to  the  union,  from  various 
hiding  places,  I  will  state  that  there  are  hundreds  of 
guns  still  concealed  and  waiting  occasion  for  use. 


15 


CORONADO  RIOT 

In  the  meantime  I  had  upon  my  hands  a  large 
number  of  the  mine  guards  whom  I  had  disarmed,  and 
who,  being  defenseless  in  the  presence  of  enemies 
thirsting  for  their  blood,  had  to  receive  protection. 
These  mine  guards  I  undertook  to  ship  out  of  the 
strike  zone.  For  that  purpose  I  assembled  a  number 
of  them  in  Trinidad.  On  the  evening  of  the  31st  of 
October  I  had  in  the  Coronado  Hotel  at  Trinidad  a 
number  of  mine  guards  who  had  been  disarmed  and 
were  awaiting  a  train  to  take  them  out  of  the  country. 
Notwithstanding  the  representations  made  to  me  con- 
cerning the  disarmament  of  the  detested  mine  guards, 
and  when  I  had  rendered  them  helpless  by  disarming 
them,  all  of  which  was  known  to  the  striking  miners, 
a  great  crowd  gathered  around  the  Coronado  Hotel  in 
which  these  disarmed  men  were  contained,  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  reeking  condign  vengeance  upon 
their  enemies,  thus,  as  they  supposed,  delivered  into 
their  hands.  Some  five  or  six  hundred  men  assembled 
around  the  Coronado  Hotel  with  the  express  design 
of  killing  the  disarmed  and  defenseless  guards  within. 
This  is  what  is  known  as  the  Coronado  Hotel  riot. 
Notwithstanding  all  of  the  fair  promises  of  Mr.  Law- 
son  and  other  strike  leaders  that  induced  me  to  dis- 
arm the  mine  guards  first,  they  then  rather  gleefully 
assured  me  that  they  could  not  control  their  people, 
and  that  the  feeling  among  the  strikers,  thirsting  for 
the  blood  of  the  mine  guards,  was  such  as  could  not  be 
stayed  by  any  influence  of  the  leaders.  I  found  it 
necessary  upon  this  occasion  to  assemble  infantry  and 
cavalry  in  the  streets  of  Trinidad,  and  to  disperse  the 


16 


inob  thus  bent  upon  wholesale  murder,  and  to  protect 
the  disarmed  mine  guards  until  they  could  take  the 
train  out  of  the  district.  Fortunately,  I  was  able  to 
quell  this  riot  and  prevent  large  loss  of  life  without 
bloodshed  or  other  serious  consequences  than  a  few 
arrests. 

From  this  time  forward,  from  the  breach  of  faith 
concerning  the  disarmament,  until  this  day,  the 
history  of  the  strike  leaders  has  been  a  record  of  bad 
faith,  subterfuge,  misrepresentation,  and  chicanery 
with  tie  military  forces  of  the  state,  who  entered  the 
field  taking  no  sides,  having  no  interest  in  the  in- 
dustrial conflict,  intent  only  upon  preserving  the 
peace  and  guaranteeing  the  constitution,  until  by 
these  methods  the  striking  miners  have  come  to  look 
upon  the  National  Guard  as  a  foe,  in  league  with  their 
antagonist,  and  the  Guard  has  come  to  know  that  no 
faith  can  be  placed,  and  no  honesty  or  integrity  of 
purpose  can  be  found,  in  the  strikers'  camps,  as  con- 
ducte<J  by  their  present  leaders.  And  I  say  this, 
having  no  interest  whatsoever  in  the  industrial  con- 
flict still  raging. 

SHOOTING  AT  FORBES 

( >n  the  5th  of  November  the  camp  at  Forbes  was 
fired  upon  by  the  striking  miners,  and  I  found  it  neces- 
sary to  send  a  company  of  infantry  to  that  camp, 
which  lias  received  military  protection  ever  since. 

ARMIJO  MURDER 

On  the  8th  of  November  one  Pedro  Armijo  was 
murdered  near  the  tent  colony  at  Aguilar.  Armijo 


17 


was  a  non-union  workman,  who,  upon  that  day,  was 
visiting  relatives  in  Aguilar.  This  town,  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  district,  was  inhabited  almost  exclu- 
sively by  union  people.  It  has  been  the  center  and 
hotbed  of  disorder  during  the  entire  campaign.  A 
committee  of  the  Aguilar  local  union  was  sent  to 
Armijo  to  urge  him  to  join  the  union.  This  committee, 
comprising  the  president  and  treasurer  of  the  union 
and  one  other,  frankly  told  Armijo  that  it  was  highly 
dangerous  for  him  to  stay  in  Aguilar  unless  he  took  a 
union  card.  Armijo,  however,  was  not  to  be  intimi- 
dated, and  flatly  refused  to  join.  While  the  committee 
was  inside  the  house,  threatening  Armijo,  a  large 
crowd  of  men  assembled  in  the  street.  The  town 
marshal,  a  very  radical  union  sympathizer,  was  then 
sent  by  the  union  committee  to  deport  Armijo  from 
the  town.  The  marshal  took  him  out  of  his  relatives' 
house  and,  followed  by  the  crowd,  escorted  him 
through  the  streets  of  Aguilar  in  the  direction  of  the 
tent  colony  on  the  outskirts  of  the  t°wn-  Before 
reaching  the  colony,  the  marshal  turned  Armijo  loose 
and  sent  him  upon  his  way  toward  the  camp  of  his 
enemies.  The  unfortunate  man  was  thrust  into  the 
jaws  of  death.  Passing  along  by  the  tent  colony,  and 
about  an  eighth  of  a  mile  from  where  the  marshal  left 
him,  he  was  murdered  in  his  tracks  by  a  gunshot. 
Instantly  both  the  crowd  from  town  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  tent  colony  surrounded  the  body.  That 
the  killing  was  planned  and  advertised  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  The  tent  colony  people  and  the  idle  men 
from  the  town  were  upon  the  ground  to  see  the  fun. 
If  the  murder  had  been  deliberately  planned  by  the 
town  marshal  and  the  union  committee,  they  could 


18 

not  have  acted  with  greater  care  to  insure  its  success. 
Upon  the  examination  of  these  men  before  the  Mili- 
tary Commission,  they  were  most  reluctant  and  un- 
reliable witnesses  as  to  the  occurrences  of  that  morn- 
ing, giving  a  decided  impression  that  they  knew  much 
more  than  they  were  willing  to  tell. 

SMITH  ASSAULT 

On  the  same  day,  November  8,  Herbert  Smith,  a 
mine  clerk  at  the  McLaughlin  mine  near  Trinidad, 
was  overtaken  upon  his  road  home  by  three  or  four 
striking  miners,  and  very  brutally  and  severely  beaten, 
so  that  at  one  time  there  was  a  question  of  his 
recovery.  No  reason  for  the  assault  existed  other 
than  that  Smith  was  at  work,  and  was  considered  a 
scab.  The  guilty  parties  were  apprehended,  and, 
upon  recommendation  of  the  Military  Commission, 
detained  for  a  while  and  then  turned  over  to  the  civil 
authorities. 

LA  VETA  KILLING 

Also  on  November  8  occurred  what  has  since  been 
known  as  the  La  Veta  killing,  when  three  mine  guards 
and  the  driver  of  their  car  were  shot  and  killed  with- 
out warning. 

One  John  Flockhart,  the  local  representative  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  at  La  Veta  in  Huerfano 
County,  learning  that  William  Gambling,  a  mine 
guard,  was  coming  to  La  Veta  to  have  dental  work 
done,  with  the  assistance  of  Charles  Richards  and 
Peter  Rich,  assembled  a  number  of  the  strikers,  sup- 
plied them  with  guns  and  ammunition  from  his  pri- 
vate residence,  intercepted  Gambling  by  forcibly 


19 


taking  him  from  a  hack,  and  then  conducted  him  to 
Miners'  Union  Hall,  where  they  undertook  to  make 
him  join  the  union.  Gambling  was,  however,  per- 
mitted to  telephone  to  the  other  mine  guards  on  duty 
in  the  vicinity,  who  at  once  came  to  his  rescue 
in  an  automobile.  The  armed  party,  under  the 
leadership  of  Charles  Richards,  a  professed  expert 
shot,  proceeded  to  the  outskirts  of  the  village  and  took 
up  their  position  behind  an  embankment  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  county  road,  along  which  the 
mine  guards  must  pass. 

The  guards  passed  into  the  village  without  moles- 
tation, took  Gambling  into  their  car,  and  quietly 
drove  away  within  five  minutes  after  their  arrival. 
The  party  on  returning  from  La  Veta  was  com- 
posed of  three  mine  guards,  Gambling,  and  the 
chauffeur.  When  arrived  at  a  turn  in  the  road,  about 
a  half-mile  from  La  Veta,  in  full  view  of  the  detach- 
ment of  strikers  stationed  behind  the  crown  of  the 
adjacent  hill,  a  fusillade  of  shots  was  rained  upon 
them.  The  guards  tried  to  return  the  fire,  but  could 
see  nothing  of  their  assailants.  Of  those  in  the  auto- 
mobile four  were  shot  and  killed.  Gambling,  though 
wounded,  was  the  only  one  of  the  party  to  escape  the 
slaughter. 

I  at  once  sent  a  detachment  to  this  locality  to 
care  for  the  dead  and  apprehend  the  murderers. 
As  a  result,  Charles  Richards,  Charles  Shepherd,  Peter 
Rich,  Sam  St.  John,  and  Jose  Chavez  were  arrested. 
Upon  examination  they  acknowledged  the  shooting. 
These  men  are  now  held  for  trial  on  the  charge  of 
murder.  Flockhart  disappeared  immediately  after 
the  killing,  being  given  the  necessary  funds  for 


20 

transportation  by  the  union  at  Walsenburg,  and  is 
still  a  fugitive  from  justice.  It  may  be  well  to  remark 
that  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  La  Veta 
were  apprised  of  the  coming  killing  and  witnessed  it 
from  points  of  advantage,  their  advance  information 
emanating  from  Flockhart  and  other  leaders. 

PIEDMONT  DYNAMITING 

On  the  18th  of  November  the  house  of  one 
I  >oinenik  Peffello  at  Piedmont  was  destroyed  by  dyna- 
mite. Peffello  had  been  an  active  union  man,  but  had 
deserted  the  ranks  of  the  strikers  and  returned  to 
work. 

BELCHER  ASSASSINATION 

Two  days  later,  on  the  evening  of  November  20, 
occurred  the  assassination  of  George  Belcher  in  the 
streets  of  Trinidad.  Belcher  had  been  one  of  the 
leaders  or  foremen  of  the  mine  guards  employed  by 
the  operators  through  the  Baldwin-Felts  Detective 
Agency.  I  have  already  described  the  feeling  that 
existed  on  the  part  of  the  strikers  toward  these  mine 
guards.  This  feeling  was  concentrated  and  centered 
in  a  dee])  hatred  of  their  leader,  Belcher.  Rumors 
were  afloat  for  many  days  before  his  murder 
that  he  and  Belk,  another  mine-guard  leader,  were 
shortly  to  be  assassinated.  About  half-past  seven 
in  the  evening,  which  in  Trinidad  is  the  busiest 
and  most  crowded  hour  of  the  day,  on  the  main  corner 
of  the  city,  at  the  intersection  of  .Main  and  Commer- 
cial Streets,  beneath  an  arc  light  that  hangs  in  the 
middle  of  the  street,  and  in  the  presence  of  perhaps  a 


21 


hundred  onlookers,  Belcher  was  shot  from  behind  as 
he  was  walking  across  the  street,  by  a  Tyrolean  Italian 
named  Louis  Zancanelli. 

Belcher  fell  instantly.  His  blood  flooded  the 
pavement,  and  his  brains  protruded  from  the  bullet 
wound  through  his  head.  He  expired  almost  at  once. 
It  happened  that  I  myself  and  the  Judge  Advocate 
were  present  in  the  immediate  vicinity  at  the  time  of 
this  occurrence,  and  saw  Belcher  before  he  died. 
Zancanelli  was  taken  on  the  spot,  and  within  five  min- 
utes of  the  occurrence  was  interviewed  by  myself  and 
the  Judge  Advocate  at  the  city  jail.  For  five  days  he 
shllenly  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  murder,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  he  voluntarily  sent  for  me  with  the 
announcement  that  he  had  a  confession  to  make.  His 
confession  was  astounding,  and  was  gratuitously  of- 
fered, not  as  a  result  of  any  third-degree  methods  of 
examination  or  any  promise  of  clemency.  He  was  a 
psychological  study,  and  he  was  treated  with  great 
kindness ;  for  it  was  believed  that  only  by  such  means 
could  he  be  induced  to  tell  what  he  knew.  The  result 
proved  that  to  be  the  case.  He  stated  to  me  and  to  the 
Judge  Advocate,  and  later  to  the  Military  Commis- 
sion, that  he  had  been  hired  to  kill  Belcher  and  Belk 
by  one  Anthony  B.  McGary  and  one  Sam  Carter. 
These  two  men  were,  and  perhaps  are  yet,  interna- 
tional organizers  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America.  Zancanellrs  story  proceeded  as  follows: 
That  McGary  and  Carter  had  made  several  trips  to 
Ludlow,  where  Zancanelli  lived,  to  offer  him  this  em- 
ployment. They  offered  the  job  likewise  to  one  Mario 
Zeni,  his  tent-mate.  Zancanelli  at  first  declined,  but 
Zeni  accepted  and  came  to  Trinidad  to  do  the  deed.  A 


22 


week  afterwards  Zancanelli  came  likewise,  and  was 
told  by  Zeni  that  he  had  not  had  an  opportunity  to 
accomplish  the  murder.  McGary  and  Carter  met 
Zancanelli  in  Trinidad  and  played  upon  his  feelings 
and  pride,  telling  him  that  Zeni  was  no  good,  had  no 
courage,  but  that  he,  Zancanelli,  could  do  the  job  if 
he  would.  Thereupon  Zancanelli  undertook  it. 
McGary  and  Carter  told  him  that  he  would  probably 
be  arrested,  but  that  the  union  was  so  strong  and 
powerful  that  it  would  get  him  out  of  jail  at  once,  and 
protect  him  from  the  consequences.  They  told  him 
also  that,  if  he  succeeded,  the  union  would  take  care 
of  him  the  rest  of  his  life,  so  that  he  would  not  have  tp 
work.  They  promised  him  $1,000 ;  that  is  to  say,  $500 
for  each  murder.  The  four  of  them — Carter,  McGary, 
Zancanelli,  and  Zeni — went  from  union  headquarters 
across  the  street  to  a  saloon,  and  there  McGary  cashed 
a  check  for  $50,  receiving  the  money  in  gold,  and  paid 
$25  each  to  Zancanelli  and  Zeni  upon  account — two 
$10  gold  pieces  and  a  $5  piece  to  each.  Zancanelli 
then  had  Belcher  pointed  out  to  him,  and  followed 
him  around  and  lay  in  wait  for  him.  On  the  evening 
of  the  second  day  thereafter  his  opportunity  came, 
and  he  stole  up  behind  his  victim  and  shot  him  with 
a  revolver  that  McGary  had  furnished  him  for  the 
purpose.  This  revolver  had  certain  peculiarities  by 
which  it  was  identified  readily  by  its  owner.  It  had 
belonged  to  one  Barulich,  a  chauffeur  employed  by  the 
union  to  drive  its  car.  Barulich  stated  that  he  car- 
ried the  gun  in  his  automobile  when  driving  McGary 
and  Carter  around  from  camp  to  camp,  and  that  it 
had  disappeared  a  short  time  before,  and  that  he  sup- 
posed either  McGary  or  Carter  had  taken  it. 


23 


Upon  this  confession  of  Zancanelli's,  effort  was 
immediately  made  to  arrest  McGary  and  Carter,  and 
it  was  then  discovered  that  they  had  fled  the  state  the 
day  after  the  murder.  This  same  Barulich  stated 
that  he  was  directed  by  McGary  and  Carter  to  take 
them  in  the  car  to  the  first  railroad  station  east  of 
Trinidad ;  that  upon  arrival  there  McGary  and  Carter 
had  directed  him  to  proceed  further  eastward,  and 
that  upon  arriving  at  each  town  in  their  progress  he 
received  similar  orders  to  drive  further,  until  they 
reached  Lamar,  a  town  on  the  Santa  Fe  railroad  near 
the  Kansas  border.  Upon  arrival  at  Lamar  an  east- 
bound  train  was  just  pulling  in.  This  train  was 
boarded  by  McGary  and  Carter,  who  directed  Baru- 
lich to  return  to  Trinidad. 

I  personally  offered  a  reward  of  $1,000  for  the  ar- 
rest and  return  of  each  of  these  two  fugitives ;  but,  not- 
withstanding the  reward  and  all  my  efforts  to  discover 
them,  their  whereabouts  are  still  unknown  to  any  of 
the  authorities. 

Possibly  there  is  no  significance  in  the  fact,  but  I 
have  remarked  that  in  the  printed  statement  of  the 
treasurer  of  the  United  Mine  Workers,  compiled  at 
Indianapolis,  in  addition  to  the  salary  account  paid 
McGary,  there  appears  an  item  "A.  B.  McGary  ex- 
pense, $50.00." 

Zancanelli  stated  that  he  made  this  confession  be- 
cause McGary  and  Carter  had  not  kept  their  word 
with  him  in  getting  him  out  of  jail,  and  he  felt  that 
they  had  deserted  him,  and  that  they  should  bear  as 
much  of  the  blame  as  he.  He  was  told,  before  he  made 
the  confession,  that  it  would  be  used  against  him,  and 
that  he  was  under  no  compulsion  to  make  it.  He  told 


24 


his  story  circumstantially  and  minutely  to  a  great 
many  persons,  but  without  feeling  of  remorse  or  re- 
gret. Zeni  steadfastly  denied  all  knowledge  what- 
ever. Later  the  grand  jury  indicted  Zancanelli, 
Zeni,  McGary,  and  Carter.  Zancanelli  was  turned 
over  to  the  civil  authorities  and  is  now  held  for  mur- 
der. Zeni  was  turned  over  before  the  grand  jury  had 
indicted  him,  and  the  civil  authorities  released  him. 
He  stayed  around  long  enough  to  make  a  very  ridic- 
ulous affidavit,  manifestly  prompted  by  the  strike 
leaders,  concerning  alleged  cruelties  to  the  military 
prisoners  in  the  city  jail,  and  then  departed  for  parts 
unknown— another  instance  of  the  many  affidavit  men 
who  cannot  be  found  after  their  affidavits  have  served 
their  intended  purpose.  Zeni,  like  McGary  and  Car- 
ter, is  now  a  fugitive  from  justice. 

ALEXANDER  MURDER 

On  November  23  I  discovered  James  Bicavuris  in 
a  hospital  in  Denver.  I  arrested  him  and  took  him 
to  Trinidad,  where  his  case  was  submitted  to  the  Mil- 
itary Commission.  The  occasion  was  as  follows: 

During  one  of  the  battles  between  the  strikers 
and  mine  guards  in  the  Hastings  and  Berwind  canons, 
one  Alexander,  a  mine  guard,  was  deliberately  shot 
by  the  strikers.  It  seems  that  the  mine  guards  at 
Hastings  were  not  acquainted  with  the  mine  guards 
in  the  adjacent  canon  at  Berwind,  and  so  they  adopted 
the  device  of  tying  a  handkerchief  around  their  arms 
as  a  distinguishing  mark,  whereby  they  might  recog- 
nize each  other.  Early  one  morning,  before  the  troops 
arrived  in  the  field,  a  group  of  mine  guards  from  Hast- 
ings, expecting  an  attack  from  the  strikers  at  Ludlow, 


25 


were  reconnoitering  upon  the  hills  adjacent  to  their 
camp.  They  were  expecting  to  be  reinforced  by  the 
mine  guards  from  Berwind.  In  the  dim  light  of 
breaking  dawn  the  Hastings  guards,  of  whom  Alex- 
ander was  one,  encountered  a  tall  man,  with  a  heavy 
shock  of  red  hair,  with  a  handkerchief  tied  upon  his 
arm.  This  man  called  to  the  party  of  guards,  saying : 
"We  are  the  Berwind  guards;  come  on!"  By  this 
ruse  he  led  the  Hastings  men  up  the  side  of  a  hill,  and, 
as  they  approached  the  crest,  concealed  strikers  rose 
from  their  cover  a  few  feet  away,  and  delivered  a  fusil- 
lade of  shots,  killing  Alexander.  The  man  who  had 
been  used  as  a  decoy  was  seen  to  approach  and  rob  the 
body  of  Alexander  after  the  latter  was  killed.  In  the 
doing  of  it,  however,  he  was  accidentally  shot  in  the 
leg  by  a  stray  bullet  from  his  own  people.  The 
wounded  decoy  disappeared,  and  when  I  found  Bicu- 
varis  in  Denver,  just  recovered  from  a  gun-shot  wound 
in  the  leg,  and  maintained  in  the  hospital  at  the  ex- 
•pense  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  I 
caused  to  be  introduced  into  the  hospital  w^ard  Alex- 
ander's companions,  who  instantly  picked  him  out  of 
twenty  or  thirty  patients,  and  identified  him  positively 
as  the  man  who  led  Alexander  to  his  death.  This  tes- 
timony being  submitted  to  the  Military  Commission, 
Bicuvaris  was  detained,  and  later  delivered  to  the 
civil  authorities,  in  whose  custody  he  now  is,  awaiting 
trial  for  murder.  It  appeared  from  the  testimony  be- 
fore the  Military  Commission  that  the  United  Mine 
Workers  had  officially  taken  care  of  Bicuvaris,  con- 
cealing him  from  the  authorities,  conducting  him  to 
Denver,  and  paying  his  hospital  expenses  during  his 
recovery  from  his  wound.  Bicuvaris  is  a  Greek,  speak- 
ing English  but  imperfectly. 


26 
MILITARY  COMMISSION 

About  this  time  I  instituted  the  Military  Commis- 
sion, whose  purpose,  functions,  and  service  I  have  ex- 
plained elsewhere  in  this  report. 

STRIKEBREAKERS 

About  December  1  Your  Excellency  modified 
your  instructions  concerning  strikebreakers,  and  di- 
rected me  to  see  that  the  law  was  strictly  enforced; 
where  workmen  were  desirous  of  entering  the  state  to 
secure  work  in  the  mines,  to  give  them  necessary  pro- 
tection, and  see  that  they  knew  in  advance  the  con- 
ditions of  employment  and  that  a  strike  existed.  The 
first  workmen  arrived  about  the  17th  of  December.  I 
was  very  careful  to  ascertain  whether  they  knew  the 
conditions  of  their  employment  and  the  pendency  of 
the  strike,  and  in  those  instances  where  I  was  not 
satisfied  that  the  law  had  been  complied  with  in  that 
respect,  the  strikebreakers  were  held  for  investigation. 
In  other  cases  they  were  given  safe  conduct  and  pro- 
tection to  the  camps  where  they  had  contracted  to 
labor. 

VACCINATION  OF  LUDLOW  TENT  COLONY 

On  the  29th  of  December  I  found  it  necessary  to 
insist  upon  the  vaccination  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Ludlow  tent  colony.  This  task  was  accomplished  by 
the  medical  corps  of  the  National  Guard,  under  the 
directions  of  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  state,  Colonel 
Lingenfelter.  It  was  not  performed  without  much  dis- 
sent and  protest  on  the  part  of  the  strikers  in  the 


27 


colony,  but  the  vaccination  was  successful  and  a 
plague  of  smallpox,  which  had  started,  was  success- 
fully stamped  out. 

ROUTT  COUNTY  EXPEDITION 

1  On  the  5th  of  January  Your  Excellency  directed 
me  to  send  a  company  of  infantry  to  Koutt  County. 
Accordingly  I  sent  Company  G,  First  Infantry,  Cap- 
tain Dorn  commanding,  together  with  the  necessary 
staff  and  medical  officers.  The  occasion  for  the  occu- 
pation of  Routt  County  was  that  the  citizens  at  Oak 
Creek  rose  en  masse  and  announced  that  the  union 
leaders  were  a  menace  to  society,  and  Avould  have  to 
leave  the  county  within  twenty-four  hours,  or  the 
citizens,  banded  together  for  that  purpose,  would  drive 
them  out.  The  strikers  themselves  called  upon  Your 
Excellency  for  protection  against  the  citizens  of  Routt 
County,  and  that  protection  was  promptly  afforded. 

MOTHER  JONES 

On  the  llth  of  January  Mary  Jones,  or  Mary 
Harris,  alias  "Mother  Jones,"  appeared  in  Trinidad  in 
defiance  of  Your  Excellency,  with  the  avowed  and 
proclaimed  purpose  of  stirring  up  trouble.  I  have 
discussed  this  woman  elsewhere  in  this  report.  By 
Your  Excellency's  directions  I  arrested  Mother  Jones, 
placed  her  in  San  Rafael  Hospital,  a  church  institu- 
tion, giving  her  every  Qomfort,  but  depriving  her  of 
being  at  large  to  carry  out  her  incendiary  purposes. 

MOTHER  JONES  RIOT 

Ten  days  later  there  occurred  a  riot  in  the  streets 
of  Trinidad,  known  as  the  "Mother  Jones  riot."  By 


28 


this  time  the  military  forces  had  been  able  ft)  enforce 
a  sullen  and  unwilling  peace  in  the  disturbed  region, 
and  the  strikers  had  evinced  a  disposition  to  cause  dis- 
turbance and  disorder  through  their  women  folks. 
They  adopted  as  a  device  the  plan  of  hiding  behind 
their  women's  skirts,  believing,  as  was  indeed  the  case, 
that  it  would  be  more  embarrassing  for  the  military 
to  deal  with  women  than  with  men.  Accordingly  a 
parade  of  women  was  arranged  as  a  demonstration  to 
protest  against  the  incarceration  of  Mother  Jones. 
The  leaders  in  the  movement  consulted  me,  asking  per- 
mission to  carry  out  the  parade,  and  promising  that 
the  line  of  march  would  be  confined  to  the  down-town 
streets  of  Trinidad,  and  particularly  that  no  effort 
would  be  made  to  march  upon  the  hospital  where 
Mother  Jones  was  detained,  and  which  is  adjacent  to 
the  military  camp,  about  a  mile  from  the  center  of 
the  city.  With  that  understanding,  I  freely  gave  per- 
mission for  the  parade  to  occur.  The  parade  of  women 
was  had  as  planned,  but  it  was  noticeable  that  the 
men,  while  not  in  the  parade,  were  present  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  and  available  to  participate  in  any 
riot  that  might  occur.  Contrary  to  the  promise  given 
me  by  the  leaders,  the  hundreds  of  women  in  the 
parade,  together  with  the  hundreds  of  men  upon  the 
sidewalk,  started  toward  the  hospital  and  the  military 
camp,  with  loud  shouts  of  their  intention  to  liberate 
Mother  Jones  by  force.  I  found  it  necessary  to  break 
up  the  parade  and  clear  the  streets,  which  was  done 
promptly  and  effectually.  So  soon  as  the  disorder 
commenced,  the  men,  quite  evidently  waiting  for  that 
to  transpire,  joined  the  crowd  and  participated  in  the 
melee.  The  strike  leader,  Diamond,  who  was  then 


29 

in  charge  of  the  union  people  of  Trinidad,  instead  of 
using  his  efforts  to  dissuade  his  people  from  their  un- 
lawful intentions,  I  discovered  to  be  calmly  taking 
photographs,  for  use  doubtless  of  the  union  press 
bureau  and  the  Congressional  Committee.  I  was  com- 
pelled to  make  numerous  arrests  upon  that  occasion 
of  persons  who  were  later  released  or  turned  over  to 
the  civil  authorities.  The  fact  that  the  parade  itself 
consisted  of  women  has  been  made  the  subject  of  much 
flamboyant  and  untruthful  comment  by  the  union 
leaders,  but  the  situation  was  a  dangerous  one,  and  I 
have  to  congratulate  and  commend  the  National 
Guard  for  the  patience  with  which  the  crisis  was 
handled.  It  was  truly  a  miracle  that  no  blood  was 
shed,  and  the  miracle  is  due  alone  to  the  self-restraint 
and  patience  of  the  National  Guardsmen  under  the 
most  provoking  and  trying  circumstances.  Sticks, 
stones,  and  other  missiles  Avere  freely  thrown  by  men 
and  women  alike  at  the  soldiers,  but  the  latter  disre- 
garded the  blows  they  received,  and  bore  themselves 
well  and  manfully,  intent  alone  upon  clearing  the 
streets  and  dispersing  the  mob. 

WALSENBURG  BOMB 

On  the  27th  of  January  a  crude  bomb  was  throAvn 
into  the  military  camp  at  Walsenburg.  It  did  not 
explode.  Whence  it  came  was  a  mystery,  and  no 
arrests  could  be  made  on  this  account.  The*  incident, 
however,  shows  to  what  lengths  those  opposed  to  the 
military  will  go,  and  what  precautions  must  neces- 
sarily be  taken  by  the  state's  troops  in  sheer  self- 
preservation.  Had  the  bomb  exploded,  it  would  have 
killed  a  great  portion  of  the  soldiers  about  the  head- 
quarters of  the  camp. 


30 
HABEAS  CORPUS 

On  the  29th  of  January  four  habeas  corpus  cases 
were  tried  before  the  District  Court  of  Las  Animas 
County,  involving  the  right  of  the  military  authorities 
to  arrest  and  detain  persons  without  accusations  of 
specific  offenses.  After  a  lengthy  argument  between 
counsel  for  the  United  Mine  Workers  and  the  Judge 
Advocate,  the  district  judge  vindicated  the  right  of 
the  military  to  arrest  and  imprison,  following  in  that 
respect  the  judicial  determinations  of  the  same  ques- 
tion by  every  state  court  in  which  the  situation  has 
arisen,  and  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

FREMONT  COUNTY  EXPEDITION 

On  the  31st  of  January  Your  Excellency  directed 
me  to  send  troops  into  Fremont  County,  the  occasion 
being  an  attack  by  armed  strikers  upon  trains  bearing 
strikebreakers  to  the  mines.  Pursuant  to  those  direc- 
tions, I  sent  Major  Kenned}7  with  a  company  of  in- 
fantry and  a  detachment  of  cavalry  to  Florence, 
diminishing  by  this  and  the  expedition  to  Routt 
County  the  all  too  meager  force  at  my  command 
wherewith  to  protect  the  citizens  of  Huerfano  and  Las 
Animas  Counties. 

By  Your  Excellency's  orders,  about  the  middle 
of  February  the  troops  were  withdrawn,  first  from 
Fremont  County  and  then  from  Routt  County,  the 
necessity  for  their  presence,  in  Your  Excellency's 
opinion,  having  passed. 


31 

MOTHER  JONES'  HABEAS  CORPUS  SUITS 

Early  in  February  counsel  for  the  United  Mine 
Workers  made  application  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Colorado  for  an  original  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  in  the  case  of  Mother  Jones.  This  application 
was  denied  by  the  Supreme  Court. 

On  the  6th  of  March  the  habeas  corpus  petition 
in  the  case  of  Mother  Jones,  addressed  to  the  District 
Court  of  Las  Anirnas  County,  was  denied,  and  Mother 
Jones  remanded  to  my  custody.  During  the  argu- 
ments in  court  upon  all  of  the  habeas  corpus  cases, 
the  court-room  was  packed  on  each  occasion  with  a 
heterogeneous  audience,  the  major  portion  of  which 
neither  spoke  nor  understood  the  English  language. 
The  crowd  was  very  unusual  and  could  not  have  been 
attracted  by  any  desire  to  hear  the  proceedings,  which 
it  could  not  understand.  Without  any  doubt  in  the 
Avorld,  these  men — Greeks,  Montenegrins,  Italians, 
Servians,  and  other  recent  arrivals  from  the  southern 
countries  of  Europe — were  present  for  the  one  pur- 
pose of  participating  in  any  riot  that  might  be  started. 
On  the  last  occasion,  March  6,  I  discovered  a  con- 
spiracy among  certain  Italians  in  the  audience  to 
kill  myself,  the  Judge  Advocate,  who  was  presenting 
the  argument,  and  the  district  judge,  who  had  incurred 
the  hatred  of  the  strikers  by  his  decisions.  The  con- 
spiracy was  not  unusual,  since  I  have  had  military  in- 
formation of  just  such  plots  over  and  over  again ;  but, 
upon  a  showing  of  this  particular  conspiracy,  the 
actual  production  of  Mother  Jones  in  court  was 
waived  by  counsel  for  the  United  Mine  Workers.  On 
each  of  these  occasions  I  found  it.  necessary  to  sur- 
round the  courthouse  with  soldiers.  I  have  always 


32 

been  able  to  enforce  order  mid  prevent  riot  or  dis- 
perse mobs,  but  with  all  the  forces  at  my  command  I 
could  not  prevent  secret  assassination,  and  assassina- 
tion was  impending  that  day. 

FORBES  MURDER 

An  episode  has  occurred  since  the  visit  of  the 
Congressional  Committee,  which  has  been  given 
nation-wide  publicity  through  the  press  bureau  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America.  The  incident  is  so 
typical  of  the  falsehoods  spread  broadcast  concerning 
the  National  Guard  by  the  union  leaders  that  I  beg 
leave  to  acquaint  Your  Excellency  and,  through  you, 
the  Congressional  Committee  \vith  the  facts.  A  non- 
union miner  by  the  name  of  Neil  Smith,  working  at 
Forbes,  was  murdered  on  the  railroad  tracks  between 
Forbes  and  Suffield.  The  murder  \vas  particularly 
brutal.  It  was  committed  with  large  stones  held  in 
the  hand,  with  which  the  victim  was  beaten  to  death. 
His  skull  was  smashed  in,  and  his  whole  body  so 
pounded  and  mutilated  as  to  be  almost  beyond  recog- 
nition. The  blood-deluged  stones  and  clubs  used  are 
in  the  possession  of  the  coroner  of  Las  Animas  Coun- 
ty. After  being  killed,  the  victim's  body  was  laid  on 
the  railroad  track  to  be  run  over,  as  it  was,  by  an  ap- 
proaching train.  The  train  passed  over  the  body  at 
7 :40  in  the  evening.  At  six  o'clock  the  deceased  was 
seen  walking  briskly  towards  Suffield  at  a  point  not 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  where  he  was  discovered 
dead.  In  an  hour  and  forty  minutes,  if  the  union's 
theory  is  correct,  he  had  walked  less  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile.  The  stones  and  sticks  covered  with  hair 
imbedded  in  the  dried  blood,  found  beside  the  rail- 


road  track,  conclusively  negative  any  theory  other 
than  murder.  Three  distinct  sets  of  foot-prints  led 
from  the  body,  where  it  lay  on  the  railroad  track, 
across  country  by  a  devious  route  into  the  union  tent 
colony  at  Forbes.  The  foot-prints  were  very  dis- 
tinct and  were  not  lost  once.  It  was  known  that 
by  an  incident  of  this  kind  the  union  people  desired  to 
strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  those  at  work.  There 
were  two  tent  colonies  at  Forbes,  knoAvn  as  the  upper 
and  the  lower  colony.  In  one  are  men,  women,  and 
children.  In  the  other  are  men  only.  It  Avas  to  the 
latter  colony  that  the  foot-prints  of  the  murderers 
led. 

All  of  the  tent  colonies  in  the  disturbed  region 
are  so  established  strategically  as  to  guard  the  mouth 
of  the  canon  and  by  their  presence  terrorize  and  intim- 
idate non-union  workmen.  This  was  particularly  true 
of  the  Forbes  colony.  It  is  so  established  that  no 
workmen  can  leave  the  camp  at  Forbes  without  pass- 
ing along  or  through  it.  Upon  discovering  these  facts, 
I  arrested  all  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  lower  colony, 
numbering  some  sixteen  men.  I  then  directed  the  re- 
moval of  the  tents,  and  they  were  taken  down.  In 
my  judgment  it  was  a  military  necessity.  The  col- 
ony was  known  to  harbor  the  murderers  of  Smith, 
and  Avas  a  menace  and  continuing  intimidation. 

So  soon  as  the  tent  colony  was  razed  the  strike 
leaders  besieged  Your  Excellency  Avith  protests,  and 
sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  a  message 
to  the  effect  that  I  had  destroyed  the  homes  of  the 
people  and  turned  Avomen  and  children — nay,  infants 
in  arms — out  into  a  blinding  blizzard,  homeless  and 
Avith  unspeakable  suffering.  There  Avas  no  blizzard; 


34 

there  were  no  women,  children,  or  infants  in  the  col- 
ony, and  every  inhabitant  deprived  of  a  home  by  the 
razing  of  the  tents  was  furnished  shelter  in  the  jails 
of  Trinidad.  I  have  the  statement  of  the  president  of 
the  Forbes  local  union,  made  to  the  Judge  Advocate, 
that  there  were  no  women  or  children  in  this  colony, 
and  never  had  been  since  its  inception.  Accordingly, 
by  Your  Excellency's  direction,  I  telegraphed  the  true 
facts  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  copy  of 
which  message  I  attach  hereto.  In  this  case  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  president  of  the  local 
union,  in  answer  to  a  question  of  the  Judge  Advocate, 
stated  that  the  Forbes  local  comprised  some  fifty- 
three  members,  mostly  English-speaking,  being  Eng- 
lishmen, Scotchmen,  Irishmen,  and  Welshmen,  and 
that  of  the  number  there  were  but  three  American 
citizens.  The  examination  of  the  prisoners  revealed 
over  and  over  again  English-speaking  men  who  had 
been  in  this  country  between  twenty  and  thirty  years, 
yet  had  never  attempted  to  become  American  citizens, 
but  remained  still  subjects  of  the  British  crown. 
These  are  the  class  of  men  who  clamor  most  loudly 
about  their  constitutional  rights. 

WILLIAMS'  ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION 

As  I  write  this  report,  another  instance  of  out- 
lawry has  occurred.  The  other  night  the  business  men 
of  Trinidad  met  and  formulated  a  joint  telegram  to 
Your  Excellency,  endorsing  Your  Excellency's  policy, 
and  pleading  for  the  protection  that  continuance  of 
the  state  troops  in  Trinidad  assures.  One  of  the 
business  men  so  joining  in  approval  of  Your  Excel- 
lency and  the  military,  forces  of  the  state  was  dis- 


35 

covered  the  day  before  yesterday  in  a  dying  condition 
in  his  office,  having  been  murderously  beaten  and  left 
for  dead.  He  was  taken  to  San  Eafael  Hospital,  and, 
from  the  latest  reports  received,  has  not  yet  recovered 
consciousness. 


HI 
GENERAL  POLICIES 

USE  OF  HORSES,  MULES,  AND  AUTOMOBILES 

On  entering  the  field,  the  National  Guard  owned 
only  fourteen  head  of  draft-horses — a  totally  inade- 
quate number  for  the  Quartermaster  General's  De- 
partment, which  is  charged  writh  the  supplying  of  the 
troops  with  all  manner  of  stores.  Two  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  head  of  horses  were  finally  purchased 
for  draft  use  and  mounted  troops.  The  Commanding 
General  very  gladly  accepted  the  offer  made  by  ranch- 
men and  some  of  the  operators  to  take  over  horses 
and  mules  to  be  used  without  charge  to  the  state.  In 
this  way  twenty-one  head  of  saddle  horses  were  in  use 
without  expense  other  than  their  feed,  being  drawn 
from  the  ranches  in  the  vicinity  of  the  strike  zone,  and 
fifteen  head  of  mules  were  secured  from  the  various 
coal  mines  of  the  district. 

In  Huerfano  and  Las  Animas  Counties  the  troops 
were  distributed  over  about  120  miles  of  territory, 
much  of  which  was  distant  from  railroad  transporta- 
tion. It  became  necessary  to  provide  transportation 
other  than  horses,  in  order  that  the  Commanding 
General  and  certain  officers  of  his  staff  might  pay 
frequent  visits  to  the  detached  posts.  At  various  times 
six  different  automobiles  have  been  used,  four  of  which 
were  private  cars  and  two  said  to  have  been  owned 
by  the  operators.  Some  complaint  was  urged  by  the 
strike  leaders  against  the  use  of  these  cars,  and  request 
was  promptly  made  of  Mr.  Lawson  that  he  also  fur- 
nish one  or  two  cars  for  the  use  of  the  troops.  This 
request  he  declined. 


37 
ENLISTMENT  OF  MINE  GUARDS 

The  enlisted  personnel  of  the  National  Guard  of 
Colorado  is  largely  made  up  of  small  property-owners, 
clerks,  professional  men,  and  farmers.  It  has  always 
been  the  custom,  upon  mobilization  of  the  troops  for 
protracted  service,  to  relieve  from  duty  those  soldiers 
vvnose  presence  at  home  is  most  greatly  needed,  en- 
listing in  their  places  men  who  have  served  in  the 
regular  army,  in  the  marine  corps  and  navy,  and  the 
National  Guard  of  this  and  other  states,  great  num- 
bers of  whom  are  usually  available  in  the  cities  and 
towns  of  the  state.  Among  the  mine  guards  who  were 
thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  presence  of  the 
troops  in  the  field,  a  few  ex-soldiers  were  found  whose 
discharge  papers  were  of  such  a  character  that  it 
seemed  desirable  to  enlist  them  in  the  National  Guard 
of  Colorado.  So  far  as  it  has  been  possible  to  ascer- 
tain, no  Baldwin-Felts  man  ever  offered  himself  for 
enlistment  or  became  enrolled  in  the  service.  All  men 
enlisted  in  the  National  Guard  were  given  the  pay  of 
the  rank  in  which  they  were  serving  as  soldiers,  and 
were  subject  to  the  same  orders  as  other  soldiers.  A 
few  of  the  men  enlisted  among  the  mine  guards  were 
paid  for  a  time  additional  sums  by  the  operators.  This 
is  a  matter  in  which  the  Commanding  General  has 
no  interest,  as  it  (has  'been  customary  for  business 
houses  to  continue  the  pay  of  employes  who  are  serv- 
ing the  state  under  orders  of  the  Governor. 

DISARMAMENT 

The  Governor  in  his  first  letter  of  instruction 
directed  that  all  persons  should  be  disarmed  unless 


38 

authorized  to  bear  anus.  In  compliance  with  this 
order,  weapons  were  taken  from  tin*  peace  officers  of 
both  counties,  from  the  deputy  sheriffs  and  mine 
guards  found  about  the  properties  of  the  operators, 
fmm  the  tent  colonies  of  the  strikers,  and  from  such 
homes  and  stores  as  were  being  used  to  the  disturb- 
ance of  law  and  order.  In  all  1,872  guns  and  pistols 
have  been  gathered,  about  an  equal  number  being 
taken  from  the  deputies  and  strikers,  and  about  two 
tons  of  explosives.  Directions  were  given,  very  soon 
after  entering  the  strike  zone,  that  the  importation  of 
arms  and  ammunition  should  cease,  and  that  no  guns, 
ammunition,  or  explosives  should  be  sold  without  the 
permission  of  the  Commanding  General.  Many  of  the 
guns  which  were  in  transit  at  j:he  time  of  the  mobiliza- 
tion of  troops  were  returned  to  the  factories  and 
wholesale  dealers  in  the  East.  Where  arms  were  vol- 
nntarily  turned  over  to  the  soldiers,  a  receipt  carrying 
a  description  of  the  gun  was  given  to  the  owner  of  the 
weapon.  Where  false  statements  have  been  made  as 
to  the  presence  of  guns,  it  has  been  customary  to  con- 
fiscate the  weapons  when  found.  The  first  weapons 
gathered  in  Huerfano  County  were  taken  from  the 
sheriff  and  his  deputies. 

STRIKEBREAKERS  AND  STRIKE  NOTICES 

In  the  Governor's  letter  of  instruction  dated  Oc- 
tober 28,  1913,  occurred  the  following  order : 

"To  see  that  all  persons  desiring  to  return  to 
work  shall  be  permitted  to  do  so  and  to  go  and 
come  when  they  will  without  molestation  or  inter- 
ference of  any  kind  whatsoever;  and  during  the 


restoration  of  order  or  until  further  orders  no 
strikebreakers  shall  be  shipped  in. 

With  these  purposes  in  view  you  should  have 
the  fullest  co-operation  of  every  good  citizen." 

Every  operator  in  the  strike  zone  was  promptly 
notified  of  this  ruling,  and  was  directed  that  any  plans 
under  consideration  for  the  introduction  of  workmen 
from  outside  the  State  of  Colorado  should  be  with- 
drawn until  such  time  as  the  Governor  lifted  the  pro- 
hibition for  the  introduction  of  workmen  from  with- 
out the  state.  One  band  of  twelve  Japanese  was  per- 
mitted to  come  in  by  a  special  permit  of  the  Governor, 
as  they  had  previously  worked  in  the  strike  zone  and 
were  fully  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  the  strike  was  in 
progress.  The  Governor  directed  by  telephone  that 
at  any  time  \vhen  two  or  three  former  workmen  de- 
sired to  return  to  any  of  the  mines,  they  should  be 
allowed  to  do  it.  The  strike  leaders  repeatedly  called 
the  attention  of  the  Commanding  General  to  alleged 
efforts  to  violate  the  order  concerning  the  introduc- 
tion of  workmen.  Each  case  was  investigated  by  an 
officer  detailed  for  the  purpose,  and  in  only  one  in- 
stance— that  of  the  introduction  of  Mexicans  at  Gray 
Creek — was  there  even  an  appearance  of  an  effort  to 
evade  the  order  of  the  Governor. 

Prior  to  the  issuance  of  General  Order  No.  17, 
a  copy  of  which  is  attached,  the  operators  were 
informed  that  they  would  not  be  permitted  to  im- 
port to  their  mines  any  workman  who  had  not  pre- 
viously been  interrogated  by  an  officer  of  the  National 
Guard  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  strike  and  conditions 
of  employment  in  the  State  of  Colorado.  Each  officer 


40 

of  the  National  Guard  was  furnished  with  copies  of 
General  Order  No.  IT,  and  the  order  was  printed 
in  the  local  press.  The  first  importation  of  work- 
men arrived  from  the  East,  passing  through  La 
•Junta.  In  order  to  test  the  efficacy  of  the  method 
adopted  for  interviewing  workmen,  Captain  Nicker- 
son  was  sent  to  La  Junta  to  meet  the  train  bearing  the 
workmen.  Upon  his  recommendation  that  there  was 
ample  time  after  the  arrival  of  workmen  in  the  district 
to  test  their  knowledge  of  the  strike  and  labor  condi- 
tions in  Colorado,  no  other  officer  was  sent  out  of  the 
strike  zone  to  intercept  workmen.  Upon  several 
occasions  complaints  were  made  that  workmen  had 
been  brought  into  the  mines  without  a  complete  check 
being  made.  Officers  were  detailed  to  investigate,  and 
tlu'ir  reports  show  that  in  each  instance  the  check  had 
been  thoroughly  made. 

Prior  to  the  promulgation  of  General  Order  No. 
17,  the  operators  were  invited  to  a  conference  with 
the  Commanding  General  to  devise  a  scheme  of 
notification  to  the  workmen  entering  the  strike  zone, 
which  would  give  evidence  of  compliance  with  the  law. 
At  this  time  notices  were  drafted,  and  printed  in 
several  languages,  which  were  afterwards,  as  I  am 
informed,  supplied  to  each  laborer  imported.  One  of 
these  printed  notices  is  attached  hereto. 

UNITED  STATES  MAILS 

Nearly  every  mining  camp  in  southern  Colorado 
is  located  on  land  which  for  purposes  other  than 
mining  is  almost  worthless.  Such  population  as 
gathers  about  the  mines  is  for  purely  mining  pur- 
poses. This  has  necessitated  the  placing  of  post- 


41 


offices,  for  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants,  on 
mining  property  privately  owned.  One  of  the  deli- 
cate situations  requiring  wise  control  on  the  part  of 
the  soldiers  on  duty  in  the  strike  region  has  been  to 
permit  all  persons  who  were  accustomed  to  receive 
mail  at  these  mining  post-offices  to  proceed  to  the  post- 
office,  and  at  the  same  time  insure  against  interfer- 
ence with  persons  or  property  connected  with  the 
other  side  of  the  industrial  conflict.  The  condition 
referred  to  has  been  aggravated  in  several  of  the 
camps  by  the  fact  that  county  roads  pass  through 
the  mining  camp,  and,  as  Your  Excellency  well  knows, 
no  highways  in  the  strike  zone  are  fenced.  As  an  in- 
stance of  the  conditions  referred  to,  of  the  care  exer- 
cised by  the  officers  and  the  good  judgment  exhibited 
by  the  enlisted  men,  the  reports  of  the  officers  con- 
nected with  the  alleged  interference  of  the  mail  at 
Rouse  are  herewith  submitted. 

ALLEGED  PEONAGE 

Numerous  inquiries  have  been  made  of  the  Com- 
manding General  by  the  committee  of  the  trades  as- 
semblies of  Colorado,  by  strike  leaders  and  individ- 
uals among  the  strikers,  as  to  the  restraint  alleged  to 
have  been  exercised  by  soldiers  over  workmen  desir- 
ing to  leave  the  various  mining  properties.  It  seems 
incredible  that  such  a  charge  should  be  made  against 
a  soldier;  for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  mine 
operators  openly  assert  they  want  no  man  on  the 
pay-roll  who  has  become  dissatisfied  with  his  work, 
or  who  desires  to  leave.  Therefore  it  is  easy  to  un- 
derstand that  no  request  has  ever  been  received  by  any 
officer  or  soldier  of  the  National  Guard  of  Colorado  to 


42 


prevent  the  departure  of  any  workmen  seeking  to 
leave,  nor  has  there  been  an  instance  known  to  the 
Commanding  General  where  an  officer  or  enlisted  man 
of  the  National  Guard  ever  prevented  the  exit  of  any 
workman  from  a  mine,  unless  all  egress  from  a  camp 
had  been  barred  temporarily  to  investigate  some  al- 
leged crime. 

POLICE  INFRACTIONS  BY  TROOPS 

Something  over  2,000  different  soldiers  have  been 
on  duty  in  the  strike  zone  of  Colorado.  The  dis- 
cipline of  the  men,  the  efficiency  of  the  officers,  and 
the  quality  of  service  rendered  have  been  a  constant 
surprise  to  such  soldiers  as  have  had  the  facts  to 
judge  from.  No  instance  of  disobedience  or  neglect 
of  orders  on  the  part  of  an  officer  has  come  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  Commanding  General.  There  have  been 
fewer  infractions  than  might  have  been  expected  from 
the  nature  of  the  service,  which  was  peculiarly  trying 
to  disciplined  soldiers.  Every  case  of  drunkenness  or 
other  irregularity  was  cared  for  by  the  proper  mil- 
itary courts.  The  summary  courts  tried  424  cases, 
and  the  general  court  martial  considered  30  cases. 

THE  MILITARY  COMMISSION 

I  feel  it  due  to  explain  the  purpose  and  functions 
of  the  Military  Commission  which  was  established  by 
my  order  shortly  after  the  assassination  in  the  streets 
of  Trinidad.  I  found  that  military  prisoners  were  ac- 
cumulating in  the  jails,  whose  individual  cases  needed 
more  thorough  investigation  than  the  Commanding 
General  had  time  or  occasion  to  make.  I  therefore 


43 

detached  a  board  of  officers,  which  I  designated  the 
"Military  Commission. "  This  board  or  commission 
I  constituted  of  officers  of  higher  rank  in  the  service 
of  the  state,  known  in  their  local  communities  as  rep- 
resentative men  of  high  ability,  upright  character, 
and  irreproachable  integrity.  While  the  personnel  of 
the  commission  was  changed  slightly  from  time  to 
time,  as  the  necessities  of  the  service  required,  still  I 
aimed  always  to  assign  to  this  body  officers  in  whom 
Your  Excellency,  the  Commanding  General,  and  the 
people  would  have  the  geratest  confidence.  As  orig- 
inally established,  the  commission  comprised  the  In- 
spector-General and  Paymaster-General  of  the  State, 
Colonel  C.  B.  Carlile,  who,  in  civil  life,  is  a  banker  in 
Pueblo;  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  State,  Colonel  G. 
P.  Lingenfelter,  a  distinguished  Denver  physician ; 
Colonel  Edward  Verdeckberg,  commanding  the  First 
Regiment  of  Infantry  and  the  central  camp  at  Wal- 
senburg,  a  manufacturer  of  Denver;  Major  A.  H.  Wil- 
liams, Adjutant-General  of  the  First  Brigade,  a  Den- 
ver business  man;  Major  A.  F.  Reeves,  a  real-estate 
man  of  Montrose,  who  has  since  been  appointed  post- 
master of  that  city  by  the  President;  Captain  A.  D. 
Marshall,  the  secretary  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution;  and  Lieutenant  W.  A.  Spangler,  a  Den- 
ver attorney.  Afterwards,  at  different  times,  Major 
Lester,  a  Walsenburg  physician ;  Captain  Dailey,  clerk 
of  the  District  Court  at  Fort  Morgan ;  Captain  Frost, 
an  attorney  of  Colorado  Springs;  Captain  F.  D.  Bart- 
lett,  a  professional  man  of  Denver,  and  Captain 
Downer,  a  merchant  of  Ordway,  served  upon  the  com- 
mission. 


44 

The  purpose  in  view  in  establishing  the  Mili- 
tary Commission  was  to  prevent  the  imposition  of 
unnecessary  hardship  and  imprisonment  in  cases 
where  no  reasonable  grounds  existed  for  detention, 
and  to  insure,  by  the  collective  judgment  of  such 
a  board,  wise  and  discriminating  imprisonment  of 
those  who  should  be  detained  as  a  military  necessity. 
While  the  board  was  advisory  purely,  I  yet  sought  to 
substitute  for  the  sole  judgment  of  the  Commanding 
General  the  collective  wisdom  and  painstaking  results 
of  these  high-minded  and  patriotic  gentlemen.  The 
Military  Commission  was  in  no  sense  a  court.  It  did 
not  undertake  to  try  anyone  for  criminal  offenses  or 
anything  else.  It  was  a  kindly  and  humane  device 
established  for  the  sole  purpose  of  minimizing  the 
possibility  of  error  in  judgment  attaching  to  the  in- 
carceration of  civilians. 

In  the  same  order  I  established  the  office  of  the 
Judge  Advocate  of  the  Military  District,  and  desig- 
nated Major  Edward  J.  Boughtpn,  an  attorney  of 
Denver  and  Cripple  Creek,  the  Judge  Advocate;  as- 
signing to  his  office  as  assistants  Captain  William  C. 
Danks,  of  Denver;  Captain  Edward  A.  Smith,  of 
Denver;  Captain  Hildreth  Frost,  of  Colorado  Springs, 
and  Captain  J.  R.  Charlesworth,  of  Delta;  all  prac- 
ticing attorneys-at-law. 

The  purpose  of  the  Military  Commission  and  the 
Judge  Advocate's  office  was  accomplished  even  beyond 
my  expectations.  A  very  large  number  of  arrests  were 
made  for  various  reasons.  All  of  these  cases  were  in- 
vestigated, the  evidence  collected  and  submitted  to 
the  Military  Commission  by  the  Judge  Advocate,  and 
recommendations  either  of  release  or  continued  deten- 


45 

tion  were  made  by  the  commission  to  the  Commanding 
General,  and  acted  upon  promptly  by  him.  In  all  172 
cases  were  thus  investigated  and  disposed  of.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  325  witnesses  appeared  before 
the  commission.  Of  the  prisoners,  141  were  foreign- 
ers, 14  were  Greeks,  46  Italians,  43  Mexicans, 
24  Slavs,  14  other  foreign  nations.  There  were  31 
Americans.  The  moral  effect  of  the  Military  Com- 
mission was  tremendous.  It  was  able  to  ascertain  the 
true  facts  in  cases  where  the  civil  authorities  had  con- 
fessed themselves  wholly  unable  to  do  anything. 
Whenever  it  was  discovered  that  the  prisoners  were 
amenable  to  the  civil  law  for  specific  criminal  offenses, 
they  were  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities,  to- 
gether with  the  evidence  collected  by  the  commission. 
The  nature  of  the  cases  submitted  may  be  summarized 
as  follows:  murder,  29;  assault,  42;  disturbance,  20; 
rioting,  19;  subverting  military  discipline,  17;  arson, 
20;  drunkenness  and  disorderly  conduct,  15;  held  as 
witnesses,  21;  insanity,  1;  picketing,  1;  fugitive  from 
justice,  1.  No  effort  was,  of  course,  made  in  that  di- 
rection, but  it  so  happened  that  the  political  com- 
plexion both  of  the  Military  Commission  and  the 
Judge  Advocate's  office  was  distributed  very  evenly 
among  the  recognized  political  parties  in  the  state, 
even  the  socialist  party  being  represented  thereon. 

"MOTHER  JONES" 

The  person  known  as  "Mother  Jones"  has  oc- 
casioned considerable  publicity  and  some  embarrass- 
ment during  the  occupation.  The  embarrassment  of 
her  presence  is  not,  however,  confined  to  the  military 
authorities  by  any  means.  It  was  at  one  time  stated 


to  me  and  the  Judge  Advocate,  by  Mr.  McLennan, 
one  of  the  principal  strike  leaders,  that  Mother  Jones 
\\  as  invaluable  as  an  organizer  in  the  early  stages  of 
the  strike,  because  she  excited  the  men,  but  had  al- 
ways* proved  very  embarrassing  to  the  union  chiefs 
in   the   latter  stages,   particularly   when   there   was 
possibility  of  a  compromise  or  adjustment.     McLen- 
nan stated  in  that  conversation  that  Mother  Jones 
was  a  very  headstrong  old  woman,  who  would  not  sub- 
mit to  guidance  or  suggestion  of  any  kind,  even  from 
her  own  people,  and  that  they  had  to  suffer  her  to  do 
as  she  wanted,  oftentimes  to  the  great  annoyance  of 
those  in  charge  of  the  strike.    She  is  an  eccentric  ami 
peculiar  figure.     I  make  no  mention  of  her  personal 
history,  with  which  we  are  not  concerned.    She  seems, 
however,  to  have  in  an  exceptional  degree  the  faculty 
of  strirring  up  and  inciting  the  more  ignorant  and 
criminally  disposed  to  deeds  of  violence  and  crime. 
Prior  to  the  advent  of  the  state's  troops  she  made  a 
series  of  speeches  in  the  strike  zone,  of  which  I  have 
authentic  and  verbatim  reports.     These  speeches  are 
couched  in  course,. vulgar,  and  profane  language,  and 
address  themselves  to  the  lowest  passions  of  mankind. 
I  confidently  believe  that  most  of  the  murders  and 
other  acts  of  violent  crime  committed  in  the  strike 
region  have  been  inspired  by  this  woman's  incendiary 
utterances.     The  fact  that  she  is  a  woman  and  ad- 
vanced in  years  she  uses  as  a  shield,  as  well  as  a 
means  of  invoking  popular  sympathetic  sentiment  in 
case  of  her  incarceration.    She  is  undoubtedly  a  most 
dangerous  factor  in  the  peace  problem.    I  am  informed 
that  she  was  so  found  in  West  Virginia  and  elsewhere 
that  disturbance  and  anarchy  held  sway.     She  was 


47 


held  for  murder  in  West  Virginia,  and  I  am  advised 
that  her  police  record  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Pink- 
erton  Detective  Agency.  » 

As  Your  Excellency  is  fully  aware,  she  defied  all 
government  and  all  authority  of  the  Governor  to  Your 
Excellency.  Every  effort  was  made  to  induce  her  to 
remain  away  from  the  troubled  district,  and  the  co- 
operation in  that  respect  of  the  strike  leaders  was 
invited.  These  latter,  however,  while  evincing  a  dis- 
position to  keep  Mother  Jones  out  of  the  territory, 
frankly  confessed  their  inability  to  do  so.  She  came 
to  Trinidad,  after  publicly  declaring  her  intention  to 
incite  trouble. 

In  view  of  her  history  in  other  places  and  the 
evident  effects  of  her  incendiary  utterances  in  Colo- 
rado, Your  Excellency  deemed  it  wise  and  even  neces- 
sary, as  a  military  measure,  to  restrain  Mother  Jones 
of  her  liberty  so  long  as  she  persisted  in  remaining  in 
the  strike  region.  Accordingly,  upon  the  day  of  her 
arrival  in  Trinidad  I  arrested  her  and  placed  her  in 
San  Rafael  Hospital,  upon  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
where  she  was  given  every  attention  conducive  to  her 
comfort.  She  was  advised  that  she  was  always  at 
entire  liberty  to  leave  the  disturbed  parts  of  the  state, 
but  she  pertinaciously  and  with  great  contumacy  in- 
sisted on  remaining  in  imprisonment.  It  was  avowed- 
ly present  in  her  mind  to  excite  sympathy  for  the 
union  cause  by  submitting  to  a  continued  incarcera- 
tion, and  with  that  in  mind  she  was  at  first  very 
angry  that  she  had  been  so  nicely  restrained  at  the 
hospital,  instead  of  being  confined  in  a  common  jail,  of 
which  she  felt  she  would  be  able  to  make  more  capital. 
After  many  Aveeks'  confinement,  however,  she  sought  a 


48 


confidential  interview  with  Colonel  Davis,  commanding 
the  central  camp  at  Trinidad,  in  which  she  discussed 
ways  and  means  of  bringing  about  her  departure  and 
at  the  same  time  saving  her  face.  Being  anxious 
only  to  get  rid  of  the  incendiary  woman,  her  sugges- 
tion that  she  be  permitted  to  go  to  Denver,  ostensibly 
to  see  Your  Excellency,  and  that,  if  liberated  at  that 
place,  she  would  depart  upon  some  excuse  of  her  own, 
was  readily  adopted.  Upon  her  own  suggestion,  she 
was  brought  to  Denver  and  liberated  as  suggested, 
but  she  promptly  repudiated  the  rest  of  her  proposal, 
and,  after  interviewing  her  attorney  and  strike  leaders, 
and  remaining  in  Denver  for  three  of  four  days,  she 
returned  to  the  strike ,  district,  where  again,  by  Your 
Excellency's  directions,  I  have  had  the  unpleasant 
duty  of  detaining  her.  She  was  again  notified  that 
she  was  free  to  leave  the  district  at  any  time  she 
wished.  She  returned  to  the  strike  district,  not  for 
the  transaction  of  any  business,  or  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  to  defy  the  power  of  the  state,  and,  as  she 
stated  in  numerous  interviews,  "to  establish  her  con- 
stitutional right  to  go  wrhere  she  pleased,"  and  in 
open  defiance  of  the  power  and  authority  vested  in 
the  chief  executive. 


IV 

SOME  SPECIFIC  INCIDENTS 

I  come  now  to  report  upon  specific  incidents 
testified  to  before  the  Congressional  Committee.  In 
this  connection  it  should  be  remarked  that  consid- 
erable testimony  was  presented  of  complaints  against 
the  conduct  of  officers  or  soldiers  of  the  National 
Guard.  In  a  great  many  of  these  instances  the  wit- 
ness could  not,  or  at  any  rate  did  not,  state  facts 
from  which  either  the  identity  of  the  men  complained 
of  or  the  incident  referred  to  could  be  established. 
Such  testimony  has  been  painfully  illusive,  since  it 
has  afforded  no  means  of  checking  the  witness  by 
investigation,  and  affords  no  opportunity  to  combat 
or  refute  the  testimony.  Another  large  class  of  testi- 
mony produced  before  the  Committee  and  attacking 
the  National  Guard  does  not  appear  to  fall  relevantly 
within  any  of  the  enumerated  lines  of  inquiry  author- 
ized by  the  House  resolution.  Again,  much  was 
stated  to  the  Committee  concerning  minor  police  in- 
fractions by  individual  soldiers  whose  offenses  were 
properly  disciplined  in  the  usual  way,  wherever 
known.  In  this  connection  it  was  very  easily  dis- 
cernible that  a  disposition  existed  in  the  witnesses 
hostile  to* the  National  Guard,  and  in  those  indi- 
viduals conducting  the  attack  upon  the  Guard,  to 
keep  secret  from  the  proper  military  officers  any  mis- 
conduct on  the  part  of  soldiers,  thus  often  preventing 
the  disciplining  of  the  offender  or  proper  investiga- 
tion of  the  charge  at  a  time  when  the  true  facts  were 
ascertainable.  It  seemed  to  be  a  settled  purpose  to 
treasure  up  known  charges  of  alleged  misconduct 


50 

against  soldiers  to  be  used  as  testimony  before  the 
Committee,  great  care  being  taken,  wherever  possible, 
not  to  acquaint  the  military  authorities  with  the 
grounds  of  complaint  against  individual  soldiers,  so  as 
to  afford  means  of  correction.  With  the  large  number 
of  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  scattered  among  some 
thirty-six  detached  posts  over  a  territory  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  in  extent,  there  have  doubtless 
occurred  instances  of  misconduct  and  disorder  on 
the  part  of  individual  soldiers.  It  would,  indeed,  be 
very  strange  if  such  was  not  the  case.  But  I  can 
confidently  assert  that  no  very  serious  offenses  have 
been  committed,  and  that  in  every  instance  where 
infraction  of  the  law  or  the  moral  misconduct  of  men 
has  occurred,  and  where  the  military  authorities  had 
knowledge,  or  could  by  the  exercise  of  the  utmost 
diligence  have  obtained  knowledge,  the  offenders  have 
been  promptly  and  severely  disciplined  and  punished. 
Considering  the  size  of  the  force,  the  necessity  of 
such  discipline  and  the  occasions  of  such  misconduct 
have  been  remarkably  few;  and,  indeed,  I  have  to 
commend  the  patience  and  good  conduct  of  the  men 
in  the  field  as  truly  exceptional  under  a  great  strain, 
and  often  under  almost  unbearable  provocation. 

So  far,  then,  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain 
from  the  testimony  produced  before  the  Committee 
what  incidents  and  what  men  were  referred  to  by  the 
hostile  witnesses,  I  have  thoroughly  and  personally 
investigated  the  cases  cited  and  am  able  to  report  the 
true  facts  of  each. 


51 

EXCLUSION  OF  LABOR  COMMISSIONERS 

It  was  testified  by  the  witness  Eli  Gross  that  he 
and  certain  other  representatives  of  Labor  Commis- 
sioner Brake  were  sent  to  Delagua,  Hastings,  Tobasco, 
Berwind,  and  Forbes  to  discharge  certain  official 
duties,  and  that  at  the  latter  place  they  were  pro- 
hibited from  seeing  the  men  in  the  mines,  and  es- 
corted out  of  camp  and  excluded  therefrom,  by  Lieu- 
tenant Olinger  of  the  National  Guard.  The  facts  are 
that  Mr.  Gross  and  his  party  were  ostensibly  visiting 
the  properties  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  plant 
and  machinery,  as  provided  by  the  state  inspection 
law.  This  they  were  permitted  to  do,  as  testified  by 
Mr.  Gross  himself;  but  in  the  party  at  Delagua  and 
Hastings  was  a  certain  Italian  by  the  name  of 
Mancini,  likewise  a  deputy  labor  commissioner,  who 
stated  to  Major  Hamrock,  in  command  of  that  dis- 
trict, that  by  express  directions  of  Labor  Commis- 
sioner Brake  he  accompanied  the  party  for  the  pur- 
pose of  talking  to  the  employed  and  working  non- 
union miners  in  Italian,  and  that  he  had  had  express 
directions  from  his  chief  to  persuade  the  workmen 
to  quit  work  by  every  means  either  of  argument, 
cajolery,  or  intimidation.  Colorado  has  a  state  law 
prohibiting  such  interference  with  workmen,  making 
it  criminal.  To  have  permitted  the  State  Labor  Com- 
missioner to  violate  the  law  through  his  Italian  dep- 
uty would  have  increased  the  difficulty  of  maintain- 
ing pea^e.  Upon  this  information  being  furnished  by 
Major  Hamrock,  and  observing  that  the  Labor  Com- 
missioner's party  desired,  not  to  inspect  the  machin- 
ery, but  to  talk  to  and  dissuade  the  workmen  from 
their  employment,  as  a  peace  measure,  Lieutenant 


52 


Olinger  was  directed  to  exclude  them  from  the  camp. 
These  orders  were  carried  out  by  the  lieutenant  cour- 
teously and  after  entertaining  the  party  at  dinner  as 
his  guests. 

THE  LA  JUNTA  INCIDENT 

It  was  testified  by  some  witness  that,  coming 
into  the  state  as  a  strikebreaker  with  a  number  of 
others,  the  train  was  boarded  by  guardsmen  at  La 
Junta,  the  soldiers  guarding  the  front  and  rear  plat- 
forms of  the  car  and  preventing  any  person  from 
leaving  it.  The  witness  stated  that  a  woman  and 
child  desired  to  go  from  one  car  to  another,  and  were 
forcibly  detained  upon  the  platform  for  a  long  time, 
exposed  to  the  cold.  This  incident  simply  did  not 
occur.  The  only  National  Guardsman  ever  sent  out 
of  the  district  to  meet  an  incoming  train  of  strike- 
breakers was  Captain  Mckerson,  who  testified  at  the 
Committee's  request  that  upon  one  occasion  he  went 
alone  to  La  Junta  under  instructions  to  ascertain 
whether  the  state  law  requiring  knowledge  of  the 
strike  conditions  to  be  imparted  to  strikebreakers 
had  been  complied  with,  and  that  he  went  through 
the  car  and  ascertained  that  in  each  instance  the  law 
had  been  obeyed,  and  interfered  with  nobody. 

THE  VALENTI  TESTIMONY 

A  witness  calling  himself  Salvatore  Valenti  tes- 
tified that  he  was  compelled  by  soldiers  to  remain  at 
work  in  Delagua  after  he  wished  to  quit ;  that,  being 
refused  permission  to  leave,  he  managed  to  escape  by 
another  way,  and,  being  in  Trinidad  on  the  day  of 
the  Mother  Jones  riot,  heard  General  Chase  say: 


53 


"Go  ahead  and  fight;  kill  all  you  want;  kill  all  the 
people  right  away;  chase  the  people  out  of  the  road; 
go  ahead  and  chase  these  people  out  and  kill  them; 
kill  all  the  people  you  want."  The  latter  part  of 
this  testimony  ought  not  to  be  dignified  by  a  denial, 
and,  indeed,  I  should  not  have  included  so  ridiculous 
a  statement,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  it  affords 
quite  a  typical  instance  of  much  of  the  testimony 
that  was  offered  against  the  soldiers.  This  witness, 
Valenti,  during  his  examination  stated  that  his  name 
was  Doininick  Bonito;  that,  in  giving  the  name 
Salvatore  Valenti  at  first,  he  had  forgotten  for  a 
moment  what  his  own  name  was  and  so  gave  his 
uncle's  name.  He  stated  that  he  had  served  a  full 
three-years'  enlistment  in  the  United  States  army, 
being  discharged  on  the  18th  of  February,  1912,  and 
that  he  had  served  in  the  Philippines  in  1910.  He 
could  not  read  or  write,  nor  did  he  know  the  differ- 
ence between  a  colonel,  a  captain,  and  a  sergeant. 
He  stated  that  he  belonged  to  Troop  B  of  the  Thirty- 
sixth  Cavalry,  and  that  his  colonel  was  Tom  Shaeffer, 
a  German.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  man  who  cannot 
read  or  write  has  been  admitted  to  the  United  States 
army  in  the  last  twenty-five  years.  There  is  no 
Thirty-sixth  Regiment  of  Cavalry,  and  has  not  been. 
The  name  of  Tom  Shaeffer  does  not  appear  on  the 
Army  Register,  either  as  colonel  or  anything  else. 
The  witness  insisted  he  had  his  discharge  papers  in 
a  trunk  at  Delagua.  Upon  the  suggestion  of  the 
Committee,  it  was  arranged  that  the  strike  leaders 
should  bring  this  witness  to  the  evening  train,  and 
that  the  General,  who  happened  to  be  returning  to 
the  district  that  night,  should  personally  give  him 


54 


safe  conduct  to  Delagua  to  find  his  trunk  and  his 
discharge  papers.  The  General  and  the  strike  leaders 
were  at  the  train,  as  agreed  upon;  but  there  was  no 
Valenti.  He  has  fled,  and  the  strike  leaders  profess 
to  the  General  that  they  do  not  know  his  whereabouts. 
He  has  no  trunk  and  no  discharge  papers  at  Delagua, 
and  the  tale  that  he  tells  of  enforced  work  and  per- 
sonal restraint  by  the  soldiers  is  not  true.  Yet  this 
is  the  class  of  witness  that  was  often  introduced  to 
the  Committee  as  wrorthy  of  credit  and  belief,  to 
attack  the  National  Guard. 

THE  BARBED- WIRE  EPISODE 

It  was  stated  by  the  witness  John  Lawson  and 
others  that  Lieutenant  Linderfelt  had  directed  that 
some  barbed  wire  be  cut  in  small  pieces  and  thrown 
into  a  well  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ludlow 
tent  colony  as  a  source  of  water  supply,  thus  polluting 
the  well.  The  self-constituted  Committee  of  Labor 
Organizations  was  at  the  time  of  this  incident  con- 
ducting what  it  was  pleased  to  call  an  investigation 
of  the  militia.  That  committee  had  announced  that 
it  would  make  no  report  until  it  had  completed  its  so- 
called  investigation;  but  so  appalling  did  this  inci- 
dent appear  to  it  that  the  committee  interrupted  its 
work  at  once  and  telegraphed  to  Your  Excellency 
about  the  matter,  as  of  serious  and  immediate  im- 
port. 

The  telegram  stated  that  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  occurrence  Lieutenant  Linderfelt  had  brutally  as- 
saulted an  inoffensive  boy,  and  grossly  abused  a  man 
in  no  way  connected  with  the  strike,  and  unjustifiably 


55 

arrested  Louie  Tikas,  the  head  man  of  the  Ludlow 
tent  colony;  adding  that  the  lieutenant  had  a  delib- 
erate purpose  to  provoke  the  strikers  to  bloodshed, 
and  asking  for  his  removal.  By  Your  Excellency's 
directions,  I  instigated  a  searching  investigation  of 
this  incident  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  and  learned, 
as  I  advised  Your  Excellency,  that' the  facts  were  as 
follows:  On  the  evening  of  December  30  a  patrol  of 
Lieutenant  Linderfelt's  company  was  returning  from 
Barnes,  and,  when  opposite  the  Ludlow  tent  colony 
in  the  county  road,  Corporal  Cuthbertson's  horse  en- 
countered a  double  strand  of  barbed  wire  which  had 
been  strung  across  the  highway.  The  horse  became 
entangled  in  the  wire  and  unmanageable,  and  severely 
injured  his  rider,  the  horse  itself  being  severely  cut 
by  the  barbs.  Again,  on  the  7th  day  of  January  an- 
other wire  entanglement  was  discovered  in  almost  the 
same  place,  and  removed.  Upon  one  occasion,  prior  to 
the  injury  of  Corporal  Cuthbertson,  another  wire  en- 
tanglement was  discovered  across  the  county  road 
near  the  tent  colony.  After  the  injury  to  Cuthbert- 
son, Lieutenant  Linderfelt  directed  his  men  to  cut 
the  wire  into  pieces,  which  they  did,  throwing  it  into  a 
near-by  well  which  was  supposed  to  be  abandoned, 
and  I  now  find  this  well  was  at  no  time  used  by  the 
strikers  for  water  for  drinking  purposes.  Lieutenant 
Linderfelt  then  arrested  Louie  Tikas,  together  with 
another  man  who  was  pointed  out  to  him  as  the  person 
who  had  strung  the  wire.  At  first  Tikas  protested 
that  he  did  not  know  the  other  man,  but,  upon  being 
sent  to  Major  Kennedy  for  examination,  admitted  that 
he  had  lied  in  that  respect  and  that  he  knew  him  very 
well,  but  protested  innocence  of  the  wire  entangle- 


56 


ment.  The  inoffensive  boy  referred  to  in  the  labor 
committee's  report  denied  that  Lieutenant  Linderfelt 
had  struck  him,  confirming  the  lieutenant's  statement 
in  that  respect.  This  incident  is  reported  in  full  as 
showing  the  lengths  of  falsehood,  bias,  and  deliberate 
misconstruction  to  which  those  engaged  in  attacking 
the  National  Guard  have  gone. 

INTERRUPTED  FUNERAL 

Witness  Hall,  an  undertaker  of  Trinidad  whom 
the  strikers  employ  exclusively,  stated  that  a  funeral 
procession  conducted  by  him  had  been  interfered  with 
and  broken  up  by  a  soldier  driving  an  automobile. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  explained  that  mobs 
and  street  processions  have  been  prohibited  in  the 
strike  zone  for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  such 
demonstrations  at  a  time  like  the  present  usually  re- 
sult in  disorder  and  riot.  Funeral  processions  have, 
however,  always  been  allowed  and  never  interfered 
with.  The  result  is  that  the  striking  miners  utilize  a 
funeral  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  parade  through 
the  streets.  On  such  occasions  there  is  very  little 
funeral  sentiment,  but  often  considerable  sociological 
demonstration.  It  matters  not  that  the  deceased  was 
wholly  unknown  to  those  taking  part  in  the  proces- 
sion, or  whether  the  deceased  had  lived  in  the  com- 
munity one  day  or  ten  years,  the  funeral  is  always 
made  the  occasion  of  a  street  parade,  in  which  flags 
and  banners  of  the  striking  miners  are  carried  and 
large  numbers  of  men  march  to  demonstrate  strength. 
I  feel  this  explanation  is  necessary  to  an  understand- 
ing of  what  occurred  in  the  incident  referred  to  by 


57 


Undertaker  Hall.  Private  Ward  J.  Watson  was  driv- 
ing an  automobile,  upon  a  military  errand,  between  the 
city  of  Trinidad  and  the  military  camp  a  mile  away, 
and  overtook  one  of  these  funeral  processions  or  pa- 
rades. Reaching  the  rear  of  the  procession  a  short  way 
from  the  military  camp,  and  attempting  to  pass  by 
without  molesting  it,  he  slowed  up  to  turn  aside.  The 
men  in  the  procession  turned  about  and  began  to  abuse 
him,  calling  vile  names,  making  threatening  gestures, 
and  climbing  upon  and  over  the  sides  of  the  automo- 
bile. Thereupon  Private  Watson,  guiding  his  car  with 
one  hand,  drew  his  pistol,  and  struck  at  one  of  the 
men  attempting  to  board  the  car.  In  fear  of  what 
might  follow,  he  being  one  against  so  many,  he  drove 
the  car  at  full  speed  through  the  mass  of  men,  until 
he  reached  the  buggies  and  cabs  in  the  procession, 
when  he  swung  to  the  side  and  went  on  to  the  military 
camp.  Private  W^atson  insists  that  he  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  act  thus  as  the  only  means  of  protecting  him- 
self against  the  demonstration  made.  It  was  really  a 
flight. 

THE  PATTRUCCI  INCIDENT 

A  woman  by  the  name  of  Pattrucci  testified  that 
soldiers  arrested  her  husband,  taking  him  to  the 
guard  tent  at  Ludlow,  and  then  returned  and  offered 
her  f  2  to  prostitute  herself.  The  offer,  she  stated,  was 
made  in  the  rather  ambiguous  language :  "Where  can 
I  spend  these  $2?"  The  witness  placed  her  own  inter- 
pretation upon  it.  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining 
whether  such  incident  ever  occurred,  since  the  witness, 
though  pressed,  was  unable  to  give  any  information 
as  to  who  the  men  were.  She  said,  however,  that  she 


58 

complained  of  the  incident  to  Major  Kennedy,  whom 
she  knew,  and  that  he  had  punished  the  men ;  and,  in 
an  effort  to  discover  who  the  men  were,  the  Committee 
itself  requested  the  presence  of  Major- Kennedy,  from 
whom  it  was  hoped  to  obtain  the  names.  Major  Ken- 
nedy at  the  time  was  in  command  of  the  force  in  Fre- 
mont County,  but  upon  the  Committee's  request  was 
brought  all  the  way  from  Florence  to  Trinidad,  and, 
being  upon  the  stand,  testified  that  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  incident;  that  none  had  been  reported  to  him, 
nor  was  anyone  punished ;  and  that  on  the  date  of  the 
alleged  incident  and  conversation  with  him  at  Lud- 
low  he  was,  in  fact,  over  one  hundred  miles  away. 

MRS.  THOMAS 

Two  incidents  were  testified  to  before  the  Com- 
mittee in  connection  with  the  Mother  Jones  riot- 
one  by  Mrs.  Thomas,  and  the  other  by  a  young  girl, 
Sarah  Slator.  Mrs.  Thomas  testified  that  she  was 
shoved,  pushed,  jabbed  in  the  back  with  a  bayonet, 
arrested,  and  held  in  jail  eleven  days.  The  arrest 
and  imprisonment  are  facts,  but  the  rest  of  her  tes- 
timony is  largely  fiction.  She  was  a  vociferous,  bel- 
ligerent, and  abusive  leader  of  the  mob.  She  forcibly 
resisted  orders  to  move  on,  responding  only  with 
highly  abusive  and,  to  say  the  least,  unwomanly  lan- 
guage. She  attacked  the  troops  with  fists,  feet,  and 
umbrella.  In  her  testimony  she  made  much  of  the 
awfulness  of  treating  a  riotous  woman  in  the  same 
way  as  a  riotous  man.  This  woman  has  been  under 
surveillance  for  a  long  time,  and  the  truth  is  that  not 
long  before,  upon  the  occasion  of  the  arrest  of  her 
husband  for  knocking  down  a  woman  —  an  arrest 


59 


directed  by  the  union  leader,  Uhlich — this  same  Mrs. 
Thomas  strenuously  defended  her  spouse  at  Miners' 
Union  Hall,  with  the  argument  that  women  who  act 
the  part  of  men  must  be  treated  as  such.  The  next 
day  she  appeared  at  the  newspaper  office  of  the  Trini- 
dad Advertiser  and  professed  her  intention  to  kill  the 
editor  for  having  printed  as  a  news  item  the  incident 
concerning  her  husband,  and  returned  a  little  later 
with  a  pistol  to  carry  out  her  purpose;  but,  being 
excluded  from  the  office,  she  remained  for  some  time 
upon  the  sidewalk,  attracting  a  crowd  by  her  loud, 
vile,  and  boisterous  denunciations.  She  is  altogether 
a  violent  and,  upon  occasions  like  the  Mother  Jones 
riot,  a  dangerous  woman.  She  claims  to  have  lived 
in  America  a  little  less  than  a  year.  It  was  necessary 
to  arrest  her. 

SARAH  SLATOR 

This  young  girl  testified  that  on  the  same  occa- 
sion the  Commanding  General  dismounted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  kicking  her  in  the  breast.  The  absurdity  of  this 
statement  will  be  apparent  to  all.  The  young  girl, 
who  was  playing  truant  from  school  on  that  day, 
offered  considerable  resistance  to  the  soldiers,  posi- 
tively refusing  to  move  on  or  go  home,  and  continually 
calling  names  and  abetting  the  troubles  occurring 
within  her  sight.  Before  night  her  father  represented 
to  me  her  age  and  irresponsibility,  and,  feeling  that 
a  jail  was  no  place  for  a  girl  of  tender  years,  she  was 
released  and  delivered  to  her  father's  custody. 


60 

OVERWORKED  TRAIN  CREW 

A  Colorado  &  Southern  brakeman  testified  that 
on  December  25,  1913,  Lieuteijant  Griffin  compelled  a 
train  crew  to  work  over  the  sixteen  hours  out  of 
twenty-four  limited  by  federal  statute.  The  report 
of  Lieutenant  Griffin,  who  had  charge  of  the  detach- 
ment upon  an  errand  of  safe  conduct  of  workmen,  as 
well  as  the  statement  of  Sergeant  Goodell,  who  was 
with  him  at  the  time,  show  that  the  facts  were  these : 
A  conversation  occurred  between  the  military  officers 
and  the  train  crew  concerning  the  attitude  of  the 
National  Guard  toward  the  railroad  trainmen  and 
unions,  and  in  this  conversation  members  of  the  crew 
stated  that  all  trainmen  "had  it  in"  for  the  military, 
as  the  military  was  always  against  the  interests  of  the 
unions.  It  was  noticed  that  a  great  delay  in  moving 
the  train  was  occurring,  and  upon  inquiry  it  was 
stated  that  the  crew  was  "stalling,"  so  that  the  sixteen- 
hour  period  would  expire,  leaving  the  military  detach- 
ment in  the  yards.  Whereupon  the  lieutenant  told 
the  conductor  that  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 
train  to  deliver  workmen  and  return  with  his  com- 
mand to  Trinidad,  and  that  the  lieutenant's  orders 
were  to  see  that  he  did  it ;  at  this  the  train  was  moved. 
If  the  sixteen-hour  limit  expired  before  the  time  the 
train  reached  Trinidad — a  matter  of  which  the  lieu- 
tenant was  in  ignorance — it  was  because  of  the  delib- 
erate plot  on  the  part  of  the  train  crew  to  bring  that 
condition  about. 

PEONAGE 

There  was  some  evidence  introduced  to  the  effect 
that  men  were  forcibly  prevented  from  quitting  work 


61 


and  leaving  the  camps  at  Hastings  and  Delagua,  and 
that  this  sort  of  peonage  was  enforced  by  the  soldiers 
in  charge.  After  a  careful  examination,  I  state 
that  this  testimony  was  in  every  instance  false,  so 
far,  at  least,  as  the  same  concerns  the  troops.  The 
commanding  officer  in  charge  of  the  troops  in  the 
Hastings-Delagua  canon  states  positively  that  all  civil- 
ians who  made  application  to  leave  the  camps  were 
at  once  given  a  pass,  and  that  at  no  time  was  the  mili- 
tary instrumental  in  detaining  anyone  desiring  to 
quit  work  and  leave  the  camp.  That  a  man  was  killed 
in  the  mine  in  Delagua  during  December  while  trying 
to  leave,  and  that  the  soldiers  were  present  and  partici- 
pated, as  mentioned  in  certain  affidavits,  and  that  the 
name  of  the  man  killed  was  Hayes,  and  that  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Davis  witnessed  the  killing,  is  wholly 
false.  No  man  was  killed  at  this  mine  during  De- 
cember, and  the  records  show  that  no  man  by  the 
name  of  Hayes  was  employed  at  the  mine,  nor  was 
there  a  man  by  the  name  of  Davis  employed  or  present, 
so  far  as  can  be  discovered. 

\ 
INSULTS  AT  STARKVILLE 

Two  women  of  the  lower  classes,  named  Ramponi 
and  Minardi,  testified  to  certain  vile  and  nasty  in- 
sults by  soldiers  at  Starkville.  Upon  the  coming  in  of 
this  testimony,  the  individuals  accused  became  highly 
indignant.  They  are  young  men  of  good  families 
in  Colorado  Springs,  who  felt  besmirched  and  humili- 
ated by  such  false  and  scurrilous  testimony.  Acting 
through  their  captain,  Hildreth  Frost,  the  accused 
men  submitted  to  me  their  sworn  statements,  together 
with  the  affidavits  of  several  civilians  who  witnessed 


62 

the  incident  referred  to  by  the  women,  with  a  request 
that  the  same  be  handed  to  the  Committee  as  a  matter 
of  personal  vindication.  From  these  affidavits  it  ap- 
pears that  these  women  were  continually  hanging 
around  the  soldiers'  camp  and  baiting  them  with  the 
vilest  kind  of  talk  imaginable.  These  women,  prior 
to  the  closing  of  the  saloons  in  Starkville,  used  to 
tend  bar  at  a  place  frequented  by  the  rougher  and 
lower  element  among  the  miners,  and  it  would  appear 
that,  instead  of  the  soldiers  offering  insult  to  them, 
they  went  out  of  their  way  daily  to  shout  the  most 
libidinous  words  at  the  troops.  The  language  used 
cannot  find  space  here,  but  reference  is  made  to  the 
affidavits  supplied  by  Captain  Frost's  men. 

JASSINSKY  INCIDENT 

The  incident  of  an  alleged  robbery  testified  to  by 
the  family  named  Jassinsky,  of  Suffield,  was  investi- 
gated by  my  express  direction  at  the  time  it  was  said 
to  have  occurred.  The  report  of  Captain  Smith, 
who  conducted  an  exhaustive  investigation,  wholly 
discredits  the  statements  made.  Captain  Smith  testi- 
fied before  the  Committee  concerning  the  matter,  and 
it  needs  no  further  attention  here. 

GRAVE-DIGGING  STORY 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  a  man  being 
compelled  to  dig  his  own  grave  by  a  detachment  of 
soldiers  at  Lester.  One  Andy  Colnar  has  related  in 
affidavits,  speeches,  and  interviews  with  the  press  a 
horrible  tale  of  his  being  told  that  a  hole  he  was  com- 
pelled to  dig  was  intended  for  his  own  grave;  that 
he  was  measured  for  it;  that  he  was  told  in  his  own 


G3 

language  that  he  was  about  to  be  shot  and  buried; 
and  that  he  was  so  frightened  that  he  fell  fainting 
into  the  hole.  His  description  of  the  torture  is 
graphic  and  has  been  given  the  widest  publicity.  The 
tale  is  made  of  whole  cloth.  The  incident  never  oc- 
curred. It  is  perhaps  well  that  the  Committee  and 
the  public  know  the  facts,,  that  they  may  judge  of 
the  methods  used  by  the  defamers  of  the  National 
Guard.  On  or  about  the  28th  of  November,  1913,  a 
letter  was  written  by  Andy  Colnar,  addressed  to  Paul 
Antovitch,  the  fire-boss  then  working  at  the  Prior 
mine.  This  letter,  written  upon  the  letter-head  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  threatened 
violence  to  Antovitch  if  he  did  not  instantly  quit  his 
job  and  join  the  union  tent  colony.  The  letter  was 
delivered  by  one  "Kink"  True,  who,  as  soon  as 
Antovitch  had  read  it,  snatched  it  from  Antovitch, 
saying  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  letter  to 
remain  in  his  hands.  True  then  conducted  Antovitch 
to  a  cut  in  the  road  part  way  between  Prior  and  the 
tent  colony,  where  Andy  Colnar  and  others  were 
awaiting  him.  At  this  place  Colnar  threatened  and 
intimidated  the  working  miner,  who  did  not  return 
to  work,  but  felt  it  necessary  to  quit  the  mine.  On 
this  information,  Captain  Drake,  in  charge  of  the 
district,  directed  Lieutenant  Work  to  arrest  and  de- 
tain Colnar  and  True,  and  on  the  evening  of  Novem- 
ber 28  both  were  taken  and  kept  in  separate  apart- 
ments. True  was  placed  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
building  with  a  sentry,  and  Colnar  was  given  a  bed 
in  the  assembly  room,  and  handcuffed  with  his  hands 
in  front  of  him,  from  11  o'clock  p.  m.  until  6  o'clock 
the  next  morning.  This  was  done  to  prevent  escape, 


as  there  was  not  a  sufficient  number  of  soldiers  to 
spare  a  sentry  to  guard  Colnar.  The  next  morning 
he  was  given  a  good  breakfast  and  interviewed  by 
Captain  Drake,  who  demanded  of  Colnar  that  he  re- 
compose  the  letter  which  he  had  written  to  Paul 
Antovitch.  Colnar  protested  he  could  not  remember 
it.  The  captain  told  him  he  would  remain  where  he 
was  until  he  did,  and  left  him  pencil  and  paper. 
During  the  day  he  sat  in  the  assembly  room  near  a 
comfortable  fire.  The  captain,  who  had  interviewed 
True,  produced  the  original  letter  to  Colnar. 
Antovitch  was  then  sent  for,  and  identified  the  orig- 
inal letter  as  the  one  delivered  to  him  by  True.  After 
a  warning  against  carrying  threatening  letters  and 
against  intimidation,  True  was  released,  and  Colnar 
was  detained  for  further  investigation.  True  is  the 
president  of  the  local  union  at  Prior.  The  night  of 
November  29  Colnar  was  placed  in  a  comfortable  bed 
in  the  town  jail,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  taken 
out  under  guard  and  set  to  digging  a  new  latrine. 
The  lieutenant  had  been  reprimanded  for  the  condi- 
tion of  the  old  latrine  and,  as  was  customary,  utilized 
his  prisoners  for  the  purpose  of  digging  a  new  one. 
While  Colnar  was  thus  engaged,  one  of  the  soldiers, 
who  speaks  a  little  Slavish,  passed  the  place  and  gave 
Colnar  a  "good  morning"  in  the  Slavish  tongue. 
Colnar  asked  this  soldier  if  what  he  was  digging  was 
a  grave,  but  before  the  soldier  answered  him  the  drill 
call  sounded,  and  the  soldier  replied,  "I  don't  know," 
and  ran  hastily  to  where  the  detachment  was  assem- 
bling. During  inspection  that  morning  Colnar  was 
placed  in  an  interval  in  the  center  of  the  detachment, 
after  which  he  requested  to  be  permitted  to  telephone 
to  his  wife  and  babies,  but  the  request  was  denied. 


65 


He  then  said  he  felt  sick,  and  was  asked  if  he  wished 
to- go  to  the  latrine,  but  his  answer  was  unintelligible. 
He  was  taken  out  and  put  to  work  at  the  same  place. 
About  11:30,  after  having  his  dinner,  he  was  again 
interviewed  by  Captain  Drake,  who  stated  that  he 
understood  that  he  had  a  wife  and  babies  out  on  a 
ranch  north  of  town,  and  that,  if  he  would  promise 
to  go  and  take  care  of  them,  and  abandon  attempts 
to  intimidate  workmen,  he  would  discharge  him  and 
permit  him  to  go  home,  but  would  keep  him  under 
surveillance.  Colnar  was  exceedingly  thankful; 
dropped  to  his  knees,  and  invoked  the  Deity  to  wit- 
ness that  he  would  not  transgress  again.  He  said 
that,  if  anybody  at  the  tent  colony  wanted  him  to 
write  threatening  letters  again,  they  could  murder 
him  before  he  would  do  it.  The  captain  told  him  to 
get  to  his  feet  and  go  to  his  wife.  Colnar's  thanks 
and  expressions  of  gratitude  were  profuse,  and  tears 
streamed  down  his  cheeks  as  he  mentioned  the  good 
meals  given  him  and  the  kind  treatment  accorded 
him  while  a  prisoner.  He  was  never  measured  for 
a  grave ;  he  was  not  told  he  was  digging  one ;  and  he 
did  not  fall  fainting  into  a  hole,  nor  anywhere  else; 
neither  was  he  told  he  was  to  be  shot.  Captain  Drake 
has  still  the  letter  of  intimidation  as  originally  writ- 
ten by  Colnar.  Upon  Colnar's  release,  he  shortly 
imagined  the  weird  tale  that  has  earned  him  so  much 
notoriety. 


This  campaign  has  not  been  a  pleasure  trip  for 
the  members  of  the  National  Guard,  but  a  tour  of  duty, 
and  the  magnified  stories  circulated  concerning  al- 
leged offenses  or  indiscretions  on  the  part  of  soldiers 


00 


while  performing  their  duty  can  be  assigned  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  of  distracting  the  attention  of 
the  public  from  the  real  issues  involved. 

In  concluding  this  report,  I  feel  that  I  would  be 
derelict  in  my  obligations  toward  the  officers  and 
men  of  my  command  if  I  did  not  emphasize  again  the 
splendid  conduct  of  the  National  Guard  as  a  whole. 
These  men  are  volunteer  soldiers,  who  receive  a  mere 
pittance  for  their  services  as  compared  with  their 
ordinary  earning  capacity  in  daily  life.  They  have 
promptly  and  cheerfully  responded  to  the  state's  call 
in  the  hour  of  danger,  and  their  service  has  been  at- 
tended in  almost  every  instance  with  great  personal 
sacrifice,  and  oftentimes  downright  suffering.  The 
danger  of  destruction  by  assassination  or  otherwise 
has  not  been  wanting.  The  errand  was  a  patriotic 
one,  and  occasioned  by  a  quarrel  wrholly  impersonal 
and  void  of  interest  to  any  one  of  them.  The  men  of 
the  Guard  have  discharged  their  services  well,  faith- 
fully, and  patiently.  For  all  the  task  has  been  a 
thankless  one.  The  only  visible  return  for  the  sac- 
rificing citizenship  displaj^ed  has  been  the  heaping  of 
reproach  and  opprobrium,  falsehood  and  scurrility, 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  commonwealth's  defenders. 
It  is  hoped  that  a  just  and  discriminating  public  will 
in  the  end  corne  to  realize  the  disinterested  service  of 
these  champions  of  the  state's  integrity  and  honor, 
who  for  the  present  have  only  the  consciousness  of  a 
stern  and  unpleasant  duty  well  performed  to  console 
them. 

All  of  which  is  very  respectfully  submitted. 

JOHN  CHASE, 

Brigadier  General  Commanding  the  Military  Dis- 
trict of  Colorado. 


APPENDIX 


EXECUTIVE  ORDER 

It  having  been  made  to  appear  to  me  by  the  peace 
officers  and  numerous  other  reputable  citizens  of  vari- 
ous counties  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  of  Colo- 
rado that  large  bodies  of  men  have  assembled  at  points 
therein,  with  the  apparent  purpose  of  breaking  the 
laws  and  bringing  about  a  state  of  disorder  beyond 
the  power  of  the  regularly  constituted  peace  officers 
of  such  counties  to  control,  and  that  the  due  execution 
of  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Colorado  requires  imme- 
diate preparations  against  impending  outbreaks,  and 
the  Sheriffs  of  Las  Animas  and  Huerfano  Counties 
having  appealed  to  me  for  assistance ; 

I,  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  the  authority  and 
power  vested  by  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State  of  Colorado  in  me  as  Governor  and  Commander  - 
in-Chief  of  the  military  forces  of  the  State,  authorize 
and  direct  you  to  call  into  service  and  hold  in  readi- 
ness for  immediate  mobilization  and  action,  and  to 
mobilize,  as  many  of  the  members  of  the  National 
Guard  of  Colorado  in  and  near  the  Arkansas  Valley 
as  you  may  deem  necessary  to  maintain  peace  and 
good  order  in  the  various  counties. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  Executive  Seal  this 
26th  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1913. 

ELIAS  M.  AMMONS, 

(  SEAL  )  Governor. 

To  JOHN  CHASE,  Brigadier-General, 

Adjutant  General,  State  of  Colorado. 


as 
B 

EXECUTIVE  ORDER 

STATE   OF   COLORADO 

EXECUTIVE   OFFICE 

DENVER 

JOHN  CHASE, 

The  Adjutant  General, 
State  of  Colorado. 

It  having  been  made  to  appear  to  me  by  the 
peace  officers  of  the  counties  of  Las  Animas  and 
Huerfano,  and  other  counties  of  the  State  of  Colorado, 
by  numerous  civil  officers  and  other  good  and  repu- 
table citizens  of  said  counties,  that  there  is  a  tumult 
threatened,  and  that  there  are  bodies  of  men,  acting 
together,  by  force  and  with  attempt  to  commit  fel- 
onies, and  to  offer  violence  to  persons  and  property  in 
said  counties  and  districts,  and  by  force  and  violence 
to  break  and  resist  the  laws  of  this  State,  and  that  a 
number  of  persons  are  in  possession  of  deadly  weap- 
ons, and  are  in  open  and  active  opposition  to  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws  of  this  State  in  said  Districts,  and 
that  the  civil  authorities  are  wholly  unable  to  cope 
with  the  situation  in  the  preservation  and  mainte- 
nance of  order,  and  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Colorado ; 

I,  therefore,  direct  you,  in  pursuance  of  the  au- 
thority and  power  vested  in  me  as  Governor,  by  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  to 
forthwith  order  out  and  assume  command  of  such 
troops  of  the  National  Guard  of  Colorado  as  in  your 
judgment  may  be  necessary  to  maintain  peace  and 
order  in  said  districts,  and  that  you  use  such  means 
as  you  may  deem  right  and  proper,  acting  in  conjunc- 


tion  with,  or  independently  of,  the  civil  authorities  of 
said  districts,  as  in  your  judgment  and  discretion  are 
demanded,  to  restore  peace  and  good  order  in  the 
communities  affected,  and  to  enforce  obedience  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  this  State. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  Executive  Seal  this 
26th  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1913. 

ELIAS  M.  AMMONS, 
Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief. 


c 

GOVERNOR'S  ORDER 

"Denver,  October  28,  1913. 

GENERAL  JOHN  CHASE, 

Adjutant  General, 

Denver,  Colorado. 

Dear  Sir :  In  order  to  secure  a  speedy  return  to 
laAv  and  order  in  the  disturbed  districts,  you  are  here- 
by directed: 

To  disarm  everybody  unless  authorized  to  bear 
arms. 

To  close  up  saloons  wherever  there  is  any  dis- 
turbance. 

To  require  that  all  persons  employed  as  guards 
in  the  protection  of  property  shall  stay  on  the  prop- 
erty guarded. 

To  see  that  no  deputy  sheriffs  or  constables  be 
employed  except  citizens  of  the  county  they  serve,  and 
only  in  such  numbers  as  may  be  deemed  necessary 
for  the  conduct  of  public  business. 


70 


To  see  that  all  persons  desiring  to  return  to  work 
shall  be  permitted  to  do  so,  and  to  go  and  come  when 
they  will,  without  molestation  or  interference  of  any 
kind  whatsoever ;  and  during  the  restoration  of  order, 
or  until  further  orders,  no  strikebreakers  shall  be 
shipped  in. 

With  these  purposes  in  view,  you  should  have  the 
fullest  co-operation  of  every  good  citizen. 

Yours  truly, 

ELIAS  M.  AMMONS, 

Governor  of  Colorado. 


D 

ORDER— WORKMEN 

HEADQUARTERS 

MILITARY  DISTRICT  OF  COLORADO 
ADJUTANT  GENERAL'S  OFFICE 

Trinidad,  November  28,  1913. 

From :  Commanding  Officer,  Military  District  of  Colo- 
rado. 

To:  All  Commanding  Officers. 

Subject:  Permitting  miners  to  go  to  work  undef  the 
law. 

In  a  letter  under  date  November  27,  1913,  and  by 
telephonic  communication,  the  Governor  has  directed 
that  after  this  date  the  provisions  of  Chapter  160,  Ses- 
sion Laws  1907,  page  486,  of  the  Laws  of  Colorado,  re- 
garding the  entrance  of  workmen  for  the  purpose  of 
laboring  at  the  mines,  must  be  fully  complied  with. 


71 


Any  person  seeking  employment  at  the  mines, 
who  signifies  to  your  satisfaction  that  he  has  com- 
mitted no  violation  of  the  statute  quoted,  will  be  per- 
mitted to  labor  at  the  mines  in  this  district  and  pro- 
tected while  doing  so. 

JOHN  CHASE, 
Brigadier  General  Adjutant  General's  Department. 


E 

ORDER— WORKMEN 

HEADQUARTERS 

MILITARY  DISTRICT  OF  COLORADO 
TRINIDAD,,  COLORADO 

November  28,  1913. 

GENERAL  ORDERS 

No.  17 

The  following  is  published  for  the  information 
and  guidance  of  all  concerned : 

Chapter  160,  Session  Laws  1907,  page  486,  Laws 
of  Colorado: 

"That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person, 
persons,  company,  corporation  society,  association, 
or  organization  of  any  kind  doing  business  in  this 
state  by  himself,  themselves,  his,  its  or  their  agents 
or  attorneys,  to  induce,  influence,  persuade  or  en- 
gage workmen  to  change  from  one  place  to  another 
in  this  State,  or  to  bring  workmen  of  any  class  or 
calling  into  this  State  to  work  in  any  of  the  de- 
partments of  labor  in  this  State  through,  or  by 
means  of  false  or  deceptive  representations,  false 


advertising  or  false  pretenses  concerning  the  kind 
and  character  of  the  work  to  be  done,  or  amount 
and  character  of  the  compensation  to  be  paid 
for  such  work,  or  the  sanitary  or  other  conditions 
of  the  employment,  or  as  to  the  existence  or  non- 
existence  of  a  strike  or  lockout  pending  between 
employer  and  employees,  or  failure  to  state  in 
any  advertisement,  proposal,  or  contract  for  the 
employment  that  there  is  a  strike,  lockout,  or 
other  labor  troubles  at  the  place  of  the  proposed 
employment,  when  in  fact  such  strike,  lockout, 
or  other  labor  troubles  then  actually  exist  at  such 
place,  shall  be  deemed  as  false  advertisement  and 
misrepresentation  for  the  purpose  of  this  Act." 
By  command  of  General  Chase, 

A.  H.  WILLIAMS, 

Major,  Adjutant  General's  Department, 
Adjutant  General. 


ORDER— ESTABLISHING  THE  MILITARY  COMMIS- 
SION AND  JUDGE  ADVOCATE 


Trinidad,  November  20,  1913. 


(IKXKRAL   ORDERS 
No.  11 


1.  Pursuant  to  I  he  authority  vested  in  me  by 
the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  in  his  Execu- 
tive Order  dated  at  Denver,  October  28,  1913,  whereby 
I  am  directed  to  restore  peace  and  good  order,  and 
to  enforce  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and  Laws  of 


73 


this  State,  acting  either  in  conjunction  with  or. inde- 
pendent of  the  civil  authorities,  and  as  a  means  to 
the  carrying  out  of  these  directions,  there  is  hereby 
constituted  and  established  the  Military  Commission 
of  the  Military  District  of  Colorado. 

2.  The  Military  Commission  will  consist  of  seven 
officers  of  the  National  Guard  of  Colorado  detailed 
to  that  service  by  the  Commanding  General. 

3.  The  Military  Commission  will  proceed  to  hear 
and  consider  all  matters  submitted  to  it  from  time  to 
time  by  the  constituting  authority,  and  will  promptly 
forward  its  findings  and  recommendations  for  execu- 
tion or  other  appropriate  action. 

4.  The  Judge  Advocate  of  the  Military  District 
will  discharge  the  usual  functions  and  duties  of  the 
Judge  Advocate  to  the  Military  Commission. 

5.  The  Military  Commission  and  Judge  Advo- 
cate will  conform  their  procedure  to  the  regulations 
established  for  the  governance  of  Courts  martial  in 
the  United  States  Army. 

By  command  of  General  Chase, 

(Signed)     A.  H.  WILLIAMS, 
Major,  Adjutant  General's  Department, 
Adjutant  General. 


74 
G 

ORDER— THE  MILITARY  COMMISSION  AND  JUDGE 
ADVOCATE 

Trinidad,  November  28,  1913. 

(Ji: MORAL   ORDERS 

No.  16 

The  Military  Commission  constituted  and  estab- 
lished by  these  headquarters  and  promulgated  in  Gen- 
eral Order  No.  11,  dated  Headquarters  Military  Dis- 
trict of  Colorado,  Trinidad,  Colorado,  NoVember  29, 
1913,  is  hereby  directed  to  convene  at  Trinidad,  Colo- 
rado, November  29,  1913. 

DETAILS  FOR  THE  COMMISSION 

Colonel  C.  B.  Carlile,  Inspector  General. 

Colonel  Edward  Verdeckburg,  First  Infantry,  N.G.C. 

Colonel  George  P.  Lingenfelter,  Surgeon  General. 

Major  A.  H.  Williams,  Adjutant  General's  Depart- 
ment. 

Captain  A.  D.  Marshall,  Commissary,  First  Infantry, 
N.  G.  C. 

First  Lieutenant  W.  A.  Spangler,  Adjutant,  First 
Squadron  Cavalry,  N.  G.  C. 

JUDGE    ADVOCATE 

Major  E.  J.  Boughton,  Second  Infantry,  N.  G.  < 1. 

The  travel  enjoined  required  in  compliance  with 
this  order  is  necessary  for  the  public  service,  and  the 
quartermaster  department  will  furnish  the  necessary 
transportation. 

By  order  of  General  Chase, 

(Signed)     A.  H.  WILLIAMS, 
Major,  Adjutant  General's  Department, 
Adjutant  General. 


H 

CORRESPONDENCE  AND  REPORTS— ALLEGED 
INTERFERENCE  WITH  MAILS 


LETTER 

Rugby,  Colo.,  December  20,  1913. 

MR.  F.  T.  FRAWLEY, 

Post-Office  Inspector, 
Denver,  Colorado. 

Dear  Sir:  Wish  to  write  you  a  few  happenings 
of  last  few  days.  The  soldiers  who  are  stationed  at 
Primrose  Mine  held  me  up  at  the  point  of  their  guns 
Monday,  December  15th,  and  demanded  I  open  mail 
pouch  for  them.  On  Thursday,  December  18th,  they 
stopped  me  and  asked  who  I  was.  I  told  them  I  was 
the  mail  carrier  they  Politely?  informed  me  to  take 

my  mail  and  stick  it  up  my  A .     I  wish  to  know 

if  I  have  to  put  up  with  these  doings  any  longer. 
Yours  truly, 

ANDRO   SUTAK. 


2 
LETTER 

Rugby,  Colo.,  December  26,  1913. 

WILLLIAM  McHENRY, 

Inspector  in  Charge, 

Denver,  Colorado. 

Dear  Sir:     Replying  to  yours  of  the  22nd   re- 
garding treatment  accorded  Mr.  Andro  Sutak,  mail 


carrier,  while  in  performance  of  his  duties,  will  say 
the  National  Guard  have  been  guarding  the  property 
of  the  Primrose  Coal  Co.,  and  the  post  office  being 
situated  on  their  property,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
mail  carrier  to  pass  through  their  property  and  has 
been  halted  several  times  by  the  guards  at  night. 
Mr.  Sutak  told  me  about  them  demanding  him  to 
open  mail  sack.  I  investigated  and  was  told  by  the 
guardsmen  that  they  had  demanded  of  him  to  pro- 
duce the  sack  as  evidence  that  he  was  mail  carrier. 
As  for  second  offense  on  December  18th,  the  guards- 
men on  duty  on  that  night  had  been  transferred  to 
Lester  and  as  Mr.  Sutak  does  not  know  who  they  were, 
I  am  unable  to  get  any  information  on  that  occur- 
rence. Would  suggest  that  Major  Hamrock  at  Rouse 
could  supply  their  names.  There  was  no  witnesses 
as  to  these  occurrences  other  than  mail  carrier  and 
guardsman. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  J.  SHEELEY, 
Postmaster,  Rugby,  Colo. 


3 
LETTER 

December  31,  1913. 

HON.  E.  M.  AMMONS,  Governor, 
Denver,  Colorado. 

Sir :  There  is  transmitted  herewith  correspond- 
ence regarding  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Andro  Sutak, 
mail  carrier  at  Rugby,  <1nl<>.,  regarding  alleged  mis- 


treatment  of  himself  while  engaged  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties,  by  members  of  the  Colorado  Na- 
tional Guard. 

I  shall  appreciate  the  fact  if  you  will  kindly  have 
this  matter  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  guards- 
men concerned,  if  possible,  advising  them  of  the  pro- 
visions of  Section  1712,  Postal  Laws  and  Regulations 
of  1913,  being  Section  3995,  Revised  Statutes,  U.  S., 
which  reads  as  follows: 

"Whoever  shall  knowingly  and  willfully  ob- 
struct or  retard  the  passage  of  the  mail,  or  any 
carriage,  horse,  driver  or  carrier,  or  car,  steam- 
boat, or  other  conveyance  or  vessel  carrying  the 
same,  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars,  or  imprisoned  not  more  than  six  months 
or  both." 

Kindly  have  the  papers  returned  to  this  office. 
Respectfully, 
WILLIAM  McHENRY, 

Inspector  in  Charge. 
(INCLOSURE) 


4 
LETTER 

January  3,  1914. 

GENERAL  JOHN  CHASE, 

Trinidad,  Colorado. 

Dear  General  Chase :  I  enclose  you  communica- 
tion from  the  Post  Office  Inspector  enclosing  letters 
relating  to  the  same.  When  you  have  investigated 


this    matter,    please    return    to    me,    as    Inspector 
MrHrnry  requested  return  of  the  papers,  and  oblige. 

Yours  sincerely, 

E.  M.  AMMOXS. 


REPOKJT 

Rouse,  January  11,  1914. 

From :  Captain  Chas.  G.  Swope,  First  Infantry. 

To:  Major  P.  J.  Hamrock,  First  Infantry. 

Subject :  Report  on  stopping  U.  S.  mail-carrier,  Andro 

Sutak. 

1.  Upon  the  proper  investigation  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing to  be  the  facts:  That  Andro  Sutak,  a  U.  S. 
Mail  Carrier  between  Rugby  R.  R.  Station  and  the 
Primrose  Mine  P.  O.,  was  halted  as  alleged,  upon  the 
two  nights  of  Dec.  15th  and  18th,  1913,  that  at  both 
times  of  his  being  halted  was  during  the  hours  of  dark- 
ness and  that  in  both  instances  Sutak  continued  to 
drive  on  despite  command  to  halt  until  the  command 
was  repeated  three  times.  'He  would  then  halt  and 
according  to  his  own  statements  made  to  me,  hid  the 
Mail  sack  under  the  seat  of  his  wagon,  so  that  there 
was  nothing  in  view  to  indicate  to  the  soldiers  that 
he  was  the  mail  carrier  and  was  not  on  one  of  his 
many  trips  to  and  from  the  mine  on  the  same  road 
when  he  did  not  carry  the  mail.  Sutak  when  ques- 
tioned by  me  made  his  own  voluntary  statement  that 
it  was  too  dark  both  nights  for  any  one  the  distance 
away  the  sentries  were  when  he  was  halted  to  distin- 


71) 


guish  what  it  was  he  held  in  his  hand.  He  also  stated 
that  the  soldiers  did  not  point  their  guns  at  him,  that 
all  he  heard  was,  Charlie  drop  a  gun  on  him.  Now  it 
may  be  well  to  mention  that  since  Dec.  14th,  when 
these  troops  were  posted  at  this  mine  that  there  has 
never  been  a  soldier  here  whose  first  name  is  Charlie, 
nor  any  soldier  of  that  Nickname,  and  that  only  one 
soldier  went  out  to  investigate  the  party  and  it  is  a 
fact  as  shown  by  statements  that  on  the  night  of  the 
18th  he  had  two  other  persons  in  the  wagon  with  him, 
that  also  following  behind  his  wagon  was  another 
wagon  so  close  that  conversation  was  easily  heard  be- 
tween the  sentry  and  Sutak  by  persons  in  the  wagon 
in  the  rear  of  his  and  the  verbal  statements  of  the 
two  ladies  that  were  in  the  rear  wagon  made  to  me 
were  to  the  effect  that  at  no  time  during  that  halt  did 
the  sentry  use  any  language  to  Sutak,  that  was  not 
proper  in  the  presence  of  ladies.  Thus  showing  to  be 
false  the  written  statement  made  by  Sutak  that  the 
sentry  told  him  what  to  do  with  the  mail  sack.  I 
further  find  that  Sutak  on  the  night  of  the  15th  when 
told  he  could  drive  on,  threatened  the  soldiers  and 
swore  at  them,  and  that  before  the  sentry  reached  him 
on  that  night  he  hid  the  mail  sack  under  the  seat  of  his 
wagon,  he  also  said  that  the  soldiers  did  not  open  the 
mail  sack  and  that  he  carried  no  sign  whatever  to 
show  that  he  was  a  U.  S.  Mail  carrier. 

2.  In  the  examination  of  the  soldiers  on  duty  at 
this  post  on  the  nights  of  the  15th  and  18th  of  Dec. 
1913,  I  find  that  the  soldiers  were  obeying  the  orders 
issued  to  them  by  myself  to  wit :  To  allow  no  one  to 
enter  upon  the  property  of  the  mine  unless  they  had 
an  identification  signed  by  the  superintendent  or  a 


80 


pass  signed  by  some  Officer  of  the  National  Guard 
and  as  the  mail  carrier  was  accustomed  to  carry  pas- 
sengers along  with  the  mail,  he  and  the  passengers 
must  be  identified  during  the  hours  of  darkness  and 
that  anyone  coming  for  their  mail  from  the  tent 
colony  by  allowed  to  pass  through  to  the  Post  Office 
but  not  allowed  to  roam  at  large  upon  the  company's 
property,  owing  to  conditions  that  now  and  have  been 
existing  for  some  time  in  this  part  of  Las  Animas 
County. 

3.  The  investigation  points  to  the  fact  that  Sutak 
has  been  trying  in  every  way  to  make  the  duty  for  the 
soldiers  at  this  point  difficult  to  perform. 

Sutak  is  of  a  surly  disposition  with  the  sole  idea 
that  he  is  a  little  tin  God  and  that  he  has  a  great 
many  more  privileges  than  any  one  else. 

He  is  also  laboring  under  the  mistaken  idea  that 

because  he  is  the  mail  carrier  he  can  haul  people 

into  the  mining  camp  that  are  not  desired  there  and 

while  doing  so  pass  the  Guard  lines  without  halting. 

(Signed)     CHAS.  G.  SWOPE. 


6 
STATEMENT 

Primrose,  Colo.,  January  9,  1914. 

From  :  Lieutenant  Ralph  E.  Waldo. 

To :  Major  Hainrock. 

Subject:    Statement  of  facts  in  regard  to  treatment 

of  mail-carrier  from   Rugby   station   to   Rugby 

post-office. 

We  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  Colorado,  hereby 
state  that  we  are  acquainted  with  Andro  Sutak,  the 


81 

mail  carrier  from  Rugby  Station  to  the  Rugby  Post 
Office,  that  he  does  not  have  a  sign  upon  his  wagon 
indicating  his  employment  as  mail  carrier. 

S.  Mallot,  Supt.  Primrose  Coal  Co. 

E.  J.  Peterson,  Cashier  Primrose  Coal  Co. 

Geo.  Booher,  Blacksmith. 

Art  McClellan,  Engineer. 

A.  J.  Willaby,  Teamster. 

Pauline  Mallot,  Teacher. 

Vera  Limberg,  Teacher. 

John  J.  Sheeley,  Post  Master,  Rugby,  Colorado. 

Dan  Bergarno,  Saloon. 

Joe  Maloney,  Marshall. 

Thos.  M.  Laughlin,  Supt.  Rugby  Mine. 

R.  D.  Bishard,  Engineer  Rugby  Mine. 

Wm.  N.  Brown,  Pitt  Boss  Rugby. 


STATEMENT 
Primrose,  Colo.,  January  9,  1914. 

From :  Lieutenant  Ralph  E.  Waldo. 

To :  Major  Hamrock. 

Subject :  Statement  of  fact  in  regard  to  treatment  of 
mail-carrier  from  Rugby  station  to  Rugby  post- 
office. 

We  the  undersigned  citizens  of  Colorado,  hereby 
state  that  we  are  acquainted  with  Andro  Sutak,  the 
mail  carrier  from  Rugby  station  to  the  Rugby  Post 
Office,  that  he  does  not  have  a  sign  upon  his  wagon 
indicating  his  employment  as  Mail  carrier. 


82 


Chas.  G.  Swope,  Captain  1st  Infantry,  Rouse  District. 

Ralph  E.  Waldo,  Lieut  2nd  Infantry,  Rouse  District. 

Frank  E.  Tinker,  Sgt.  1st  Infantry,  Primrose  camp. 

John  Kaiser,  Corpl.  1st  Infantry,  Rouse,  Camp. 

Leonard  Hobbs. 

Harry  Shugartt,  Co.  E  2nd  Infantry. 

Floyd  M.  Stevens,  Co.  C.  1st  Infantry,  Primrose  camp. 

A.  R.  Hangley,  Pvt.  Co.  C.  1st  Infantry,  Primrose 

camp. 

John  E.  Stevens,  Co.  E.  2nd  Infantry,  Primrose  camp. 
Raleigh  E.   Parnell,  Co.   C.   1st  Infantry,  Primrose 
camp. 


AFFIDAVIT 

STATE  OF  COLORADO,  COUNTY  OF  LAS  ANIMAS,  ss. 

J.  F.  Maloney,  being  first  duly  sworn  upon  his 
oath,  deposes  and  says :  That  he  is  acquainted  with 
Andro  Sutak,  mail  carrier  from  Rugby  station  to 
Rugby  Post  Office,  that  on  or  about  Dec.  18th,  1913, 
he  heard  said  Andro  Sutak  say  in  the  Rugby  Post 
Office,  after  he  had  been  halted,  by  the  soldiers  that 
same  evening:  "I  wish  that  there  were  only  two  of 
them  (meaning  soldiers)  instead  of  four,  I  fix  them." 

(Signed)     J.  F.  MALONEY. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day 
of  January,  1914. 

(Signed)      H.  A.  MALLOT, 

Justice  of  Peace. 


83 


AFFIDAVIT 

STATE  OF  COLORADO,,  COUNTY  OF  LAS  ANIMAS,  ss. 

A.  J.  Willaby,  being  first  duly  sworn  upon  his 
oath,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  acquainted  with 
Andro  Sutak,  mail  carrier  from  Rugby  Station  to 
Rugby  Post  Office.  That  on  or  about  Dec.  18th,  1913, 
he  heard  said  Andro  Sutak  say  at  the  door  of  the 
Rugby  Post  Office  to  John  Sheeley,  Postmaster, 
"Them  Son's  of  Bitches  of  soldiers  held  me  up  and 
stopped  me  with  Mail."  John  Sheeley  said,  "Did  they 
bother  the  mail?"  "God  Dam  them  they  had  better 
not  or  we  will  make  it  hot  for  them."  "I  told  them 
to  look  into  the  mail  if  they  wanted  to."  "They  said 
NO."  "Just  wanted  to  know  who  I  was." 

(Signed)     A.  J.  WILLABY. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  the  this  10th  day 
of  January,  1914. 

H.  A.  MALLOT, 
Justice  of  Peace. 


10 
STATEMENT 

Private  F.  Burton  Smith,  Company  E,  Second  In- 
fantry, N.  G.  C.,  makes  the  following  statement  to 
Captain  Charles  G.  Swope,  First  Infantry,  N.  G.  C., 
Rouse  District: 

That  on  the  night  of  Dec.  15th,  1913,  I  was  one  of 
the  guards  on  duty  at  the  Tipple  of  the  Primrose 


84 

Mine,  that  at  about  8  P.  M.,  we  heard  a  wagon  coming 
towards  the  post  from  the  direction  of  the  Rugby 
tent  colony.  P.  C.  Cummings  went  to  the  window 
of  the  Guard  House  and  halted  the  wagon.  When  it 
was  about  even  with  the  Tipple,  Stevens,  Smith,  Pazza 
and  myself  went  down  stairs  to  go  out  to  see  what  it 
was,  we  then  heard  the  fellow  say  he  was  the  Mail 
man  and  held  up  something  in  his  hand,  but  it  was 
so  dark  that  we  would  not  see  what  it  was.  Stevens 
then  went  up  to  the  bridge  and  crossed  the  Arroya 
that  was  between  us  and  the  party  and  came  down 
to  the  party,  looked  at  the  sack  and  then  hollered  to 
Pat  Cummings  that  it  was  the  mail  sack  and  Pat  told 
him  to  let  him  go  on.  Then  as  the  Mail  carrier  drove 
away,  he  said,  "You  fellows  will  get  into  trouble  for 
stopping  the  mail,"  and  something  else  that  I  did  not 
hear.  I  was  informed  by  different  men  at  the  Prim- 
rose mine  where  this  carrier  lives  that  the  carrier 
had  said  he  was  going  to  make  it  hot  for  us,  that  he 
was  going  to  take  it  up  with  Washington. 

(Signed)     FRANK  BURTON  SMITH, 

Co.  E.  2nd  Infantry. 
Witness:    J.  H.  WITTMEYER. 


11 
STATEMENT 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern : 

A  statement  of  the  facts  as  reported  by  Corporal 
John  Kaiser,  of  Company  C,  First  Infantry,  on  de- 
tached duty  at  Primrose  mine,  Colorado  r 

On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  Dec.  1913,  I  was  in 
charge  of  the  post  at  the  Tipple  of  the  Primrose  Mine. 


85 


It  was  a  dark  night,  there  was  no  Moon  and  the  road 
at  this  point  on  my  post  passes  by  Hight  banks  on  the 
opposite  side  to  the  sentry  post  established  at  this 
point.     It  was  about  8  P.  M.  when  I  heard  a  team 
approaching  from  the  direction  of  Rugby  Tent  Col- 
ony.   I  shouted  to  the  driver  to  halt  and  asked  wrho  it 
was  and  received  no  answer.    The  driver  kept  advanc- 
ing towards  me.    I  then  called  the  second  time.    He 
then  said  it  is  the  mail.     I  then  asked  him  why  he 
could  not  say  so  at  first  and  he  said,  Can't  you  see? 
I  then  said  no,  it  is  too  dark.    He  then  said,  you  had 
better  come  out  here  and  see.    I  said  I  can,  if  neces- 
sary.   I  then  allowed  him  to  drive  on.    After  this  he 
would  sometimes  call  out  the  Mail  and  we  would  let 
him  pass  on  without  halting  him.    On  this  particular, 
we  did  not  have  the  flash  light  as  the  battery  had 
burned  out.    After  and  before  this  any  time  we  would 
halt  him  which  we  were  required  to  do  in  the  dis- 
charge of  our  duties.     At  this  .point  he  would  get 
angry.     Our  instructions  at  this  point  were  to  allow 
no  one  to  pass  through  to  the  mine  without  examining 
them  to  see  if  they  had  business  there.    This  applied 
to  the  tour  of  duty  at  this  post   during   hours  of 
darkness.     When  we  wrere  required  to  be  very  strict 
about  allowing  any  one  into  the  mine  as  it  was  here 
the  powder  magazine  had  been  blown  up  by   some 
miscreant  a  short  time  before  we  arrived  at  this  post. 
Thus  we  were  constantly  on  the  alert  to  prevent  a 
repetition  of  the  same  thing  again.     Sutak  had  with 
him  in  his  wagon  at  this  time,  two  other  people.     He 
also  runs  a  livery  business  here  at  the  mine  and  quite 
often  goes  down  to  the  Rugby  station  after  dark  to  get 


8G 


passengers,  thus  he  has  passed  our  post  several  times 
after  dark  when  he  was  not  carrying  the  mail. 

(Signed)     CORPORAL  JOHN  KAISER. 
Witness :    SERGEANT  F.  L.  TINKER. 


12 
STATEMENT 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern : 

A  statement  of  the  facts  as  reported  by  John  E. 
Stevens,  a  private  of  Company  E,  Second  Infantry, 
N.  G.  C.,  stationed  on  detached  duty  at  Primrose 
mine,  Colorado: 

I  was  on  duty  at  the  post  which  is  located  at  the 
Tipple  of  the  Primrose  Mine  on  the  night  of  Dec. 
15th,  1913. 

A  rig  of  some  kind  was  coming  up  the  road  from 
the  direction  of  the  Rugby  Station  about  8  P.  M.  We 
called  Halt  and  nobody  answered  and  neither  did 
they  stop,  at  the  next  call  to  halt,  some  one  threw 
up  his  hand  with  what  locked  like  a  sack  in  it  and 
started  to  drive  on.  We  called  halt  again  and  then 
I  crossed  an  Arroya  that  intervened  between  us,  to 
see  what  he  was  holding  in  his  hand.  I  found  it  to 
be  a  U.  S.  Mail  sack.  I  then  told  him  he  could  go 
ahead,  he  said  Dam  you,  you  had  no  right  to  stop 
the  U.  S.  Mail,  as  I  have  more  right  here  than  you 
and  by  God  you  had  better  do  it  again.  When  I  first 
called  halt,  Sutak  was  about  60  feet  down  the  road 
from  my  post.  At  the  second  command  to  halt,  he 
was  probably  30  feet  from  me.  At  the  third  command, 


87 


he  was  about  20  feet  away.  The  men  on  the  post  that 
night  with  me  were,  C.  P.  Cummings,  Joe  Pazza  and 
P.  Burton  Smith.  I  heard  no  remarks  like  drop  your 
gun  on  him,  Charlie. 

(Signed)     JOHN  E.  STEVENS. 
Witness:  LIEUTENANT  RALPH  E.  WALDO. 


REPORTS— ALLEGED  OVERWORKING  TRAIN 
CREW 


REPORT  OF  LIEUTENANT  GRIFFIN,  COM- 
PANY I,  SECOND  INFANTRY 

December  25,  1913. 

Ran  down  to  junction  at  7:50  P.  M.,  lay  there 
until  passenger  train  going  south  passed.  I  went  out 
and  asked  conductor  what  was  causing  the  delay.  He 
said  "Oh  nothing,  only  waiting  for  trains."  I  told 
him  that  I  was  ordered  to  report  back  to  camp  as  soon 
as  possible.  He  said  that  they  would  get  out  as  soon 
as  they  could.  We  laid  there  probably  a  half  hour 
after  that.  The  engine  and  caboose  came  in  and  we 
pulled  out  for  Trinidad.  Mr.  Fulton  came  to  me  be- 
fore we  pulled  out  and  told  me  that  they  were  stall- 
ing to  leave  us  in  the  yards,  which  they  did.  I  went 
to  the  conductor  and  told  him  that  he  was  put  on  the 
train  to  deliver  those  men  and  return  us  to  Trinidad 
and  I  was  going  to  see  that  he  did  so,  even  if  I  had 
to  put  him  under  arrest.  The  Engineer  in  the  Cab 
window  said  to  me  "What  is  your  rank,  and  who  are 


88 


you?"  I  said,  "It  does  not  make  any  difference 
who  I  am,  I  was  put  on  this  train  to  look  after  those 
men  and  I  intended  to  do  so  and  see  that  we  are  taken 
back  to  the  depot."  I  then  told  him  that  I  was  W.  W. 
Griffin.  He  then  remarked,  "Do  you  know  that  you 
are  up  against  the  United  States  Government?"  I 
told  him  that  it  did  not  make  any  difference  to  me 
that  I  was  with  the  State  of  Colorado  and  under 
Gen.  Chase  and  I  would  report  it  to  him. 

We  got  off  the  train  and  came  back  to  camp. 

( Signed)     WILLIAM  W.  GRIFFIN. 


REPORT  OF  SERGEANT  GOODELL,  COMPANY 
I,  SECOND  INFANTRY 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern : 

I  the  undersigned  make  the  following  Statements 
about  and  concerning  a  conversation  held  by  myself 
and  a  man,  name  and  face  unknown  to  me,  who  was  at 
the  time  on  the  Engineer's  side  of  a  locomotive,  said 
Locomotive  was  a  part  of  a  train  of  which  the  party 
that  I  was  with  was  on.  Their  man  asked  questions 
as  to  the  feeling  of  the  soldiers  of  the  National  Guard 
towards  unions.  I  replied  that  the  soldiers  mostly 
came  from  small  towns  and  the  men  were  strictly  in 
favor  of  a  square  deal  to  all  people.  He  then  stated 
that  the  trainmen  had  it  in  for  the  militiamen,  that 
the  militia  was  always  used  against  the  interests  of 
the  union. 

I  asked  why  we  was  so  slow  getting  anywhere, 
why  we  was  waiting  so  long  and  he  replied  that  he 


thought  the  trainmen  were  stalling.  I  asked  him  why 
and  he  replied  that  the  sixteen  hour  law  would  soon 
he  up.  I  swear  this  conversation  was  true. 

SERGEANT  GOODELL, 

Co.  "I,"  2nd  Inft. 


K 

REPORTS  —  ALLEGED  GRAVE-DIGGING  INCIDENT 

HEADQUARTERS 

MILITARY  DISTRICT  OF  COLORADO 
TRINIDAD,  COLORADO 

(COPY) 

Prom :  A.  C.  Drake,  Captain  First  Infantry. 
To :   The  Commanding  Officer,  First  Infantry. 
Subject :  Case  of  Andrew  Colnar. 

Upon  your  request  for  a  more  detailed  report  than 
was  submitted  in  my  daily  reports  of  Nov.  28,  29  and 
30,  1913:  I  submit  the  following:  On  November  28, 
1913,  Doctor  Stanley,  resident  physician  of  the  Pryor 
Mine  came  to  me  with  this  information :  That  one 
Paul  Antovitch,  Fire  Boss  at  the  Pryor  Mine  has  re- 
ceived a  letter  headed  the  U.  M.  W.  A.  and  signed  by 
Andy  Colnar  delivered  to  him  by  one  "Kink"  True, 
President  of  the  local  union  of  the  Pryor  tent  colony, 
threatening  him  with  violence  if  he  did  not  give  up 
his  position  and  job  and  come  to  them  in  the  tent  city 
where  they  would  protect  him.  "Kink"  True  who 
delivered  the  letter  grabbed  it  away  from  Paul  as  soon 
as  Paul  had  read  it,  stating  that  he  (Paul)  did  not 
need  to  have  it  in  his  possession.  He  then  conducted 


90 


Paul  to  a  cut  on  the  D.  &  E.  G.  tracks  part  way  be- 
tween Pryor  and  the  tent  city  where  this  said  man 
Colnar  and  another  man,  whose  name  I  do  not  know, 
interviewed  said  Paul ;  stating  that  he  must  leave  the 
mine  and  come  to  them  (Tent  City)  or  leave  the 
Country;  Paul  did  not  return  to  work  at  the  mine. 
He  formally  asked  for  his  time  the  next  morning.  I 
immediately  ordered  Lieut,  Work  to  cause  the  arrest 
and  detention  of  Andy  Colnar  and  Kink  True  in  sepa- 
rate compartments,  not  allowing  them  to  see  each 
other  or  any  of  their  friends.  That  evening  (Nov. 
28th,  1913)  Lieut.  Work  phoned  me  that  he  had  both 
parties  wanted.  I  had  sent  Lieut.  Work  one  pair  of 
hand  cuffs  to  use  if  necessary  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  £ither  of  these  men.  On  the  29th  as  you  will  note 
in  your  daily  report,  I  went  over  to  Lester  and  inter- 
viewed the  prisoner.  I  demanded  of  Colnar  that  he 
recompose  the  letter  which  he  had  written  to  Paul 
Antovitch.  He  told  me  that  he  could  not  remember, 
I  informed  him  that  he  would  remain  with  us  until 
he  did  remember  it,  either  wholly  or  in  part.  He 
was  left  with  pencil  and  paper  in  the  assembly  room 
while  I  went  to  interview  True.  True  contended  that 
while  he  had  been  president  of  the  local  union  at  tent 
city  of  Pryor  for  two  weeks,  he  did  not  know  the  con- 
tents of  the  letter.  I  demanded  the  letter  of  him. 
He  produced  it.  I  then  left  him  to  be  interviewed 
again,  later.  I  then  returned  to  Colnar  who  had  -writ- 
ten what  was  supposed  to  be  a  copy  of  the  letter  he 
wrote  to  Paul.  I  then  had  a  detail  go  up  and  arrest 
Paul,  who,  when  brought  before  me,  gave  me  this 
information.  "I  came  out  of  the  mine  from  shift, 
and  went  to  a  neighbors  house  for  some  pictures  which 


91 


I  had  left  there  and  this  "Kink"  True  came  to  the 
house  and  told  me  that  he  had  a  letter  of  a  notice 
for  me.  That  the  said  Andy  Colnar  and  another  man 
wanted  to  see  me  down  in  the  cut.  I  went  and  on  the 
way  I  asked  True  where  was  the  letter.'7  True  gave 
him  the  letter  to  read  and  as  soon  as  Paul  had  read 
it,  True  took  it  out  of  his  hands,  saying  that  he  did 
not  need  to  keep  it  in  his  possession.  They  went  to 
the  cut  where  the  two  men,  Colnar  and  the  other  man 
e^lained  to  him,  ( Paul )  why  he  must  not  work,  that 
he  (Paul)  must  either  quit  his  job  and  come  to  them 
or  leave  the  country.  I  showed  him  (Paul)  the  letter 
which  Colnar  had  just  written  and  asked  him  if  that 
was  the  letter  he  had  received  from  Andy  Colnar.  He 
said  "No,  not  exactly,  there  was  more  in  the  other 
letter  but  some  things  in  the  other  letter  was  in  this." 
I  then  took  the  original  letter  out  of  my  pocket  and  at 
first  sight  of  it  he  jumped  up  exclaiming,  "That's  the 
letter.  Where  did  you  get  him?"  I  then  let  him  read 
it  to  make  sure  and  he  claimed  it  was  the  identical 
letter.  These  foreigners  seem  to  think  that  the  green 
print  on  the  letter  heads  of  the  Union  stationery  is 
symbolic  of  the  Powers  that  be.  I  then  returned  to 
True  and  after  giving  him  fair  warning  never  to  be 
a  carrier  or  instigator  of  threatening  letters  or  in- 
timidation, ordered  his  release  for  the  time  being. 

Colnar  was  detained  for  further  investigation. 
The  next  day,  on  the  30th,  I  interviewed  Colnar  again. 
He  was  in  our  cell  at  Lester  when  I  reached  the  post. 
I  had  him  brought  before  me  and  explained  to  him 
that  I  understood  he  had  a  wife  and  four  babies  out 
on  a  ranch  north  of  town  and  that  if  he  would  give 
me  his  promise  to  go  home  and  take  care  of  that  wife 


92 


and  babies  and  keep  away  from  the  tent  city  at  Pryor 
and  all  other  people  who  Avere  trying  to  intimidate 
any  one  working,  or  living  in  our  district,  I  would 
have  him  discharged  for  the  time  being,  but  that  I 
would  keep  track  of  him  and  visit  him  about  once  a 
week.  He  seemed  very  thankful  for  the  courtesies 
extended;  dropping  to  his  knees,  praying  to  me  and 
his  God  that  if  he  so  much  as  hurt  a  fly  without  my 
consent  "I  can  take  him  out  and  shoot  him."  "That 
if  anyone  at  the  tent  city  or  the  union  wanted  him 
to  write  any  more  letters  to  anyone,  they  can  murder 
him  he  will  not  do  it."  I  told  him  to  get  up  on  his  feet 
and  go  home  to  his  wife.  He  said  he  would  go  to 
work  at  the  mine  the  next  day.  I  told  him  "No." 
I  did  not  ask  him  to  go  to  work.  He  was  out  on 
strike  and  he  could  stay  out  just  as  long  a.s  he  was 
able,  providing  he  did  not  attempt  to  coerce  or  intim- 
idate or  threaten  or  use  violence  toward  any  other 
man  or  woman  who  wanted  to  work.  He  thanked  me 
kindly  with  tears  streaming  down  his  face  for  the 
good  meals  given  him  and  the  kindness  extended  to 
him  in  allowing  him  to  go  home,  wishing  to  shake 
hands  with  me  on  parting,  which  I  never  do.  This  is 
all  I  believe  covering  the  Colnar  case.  I  still  have 
the  letters  written  by  Colnar  to  Paul  in  my  posses- 
sion. 

(Signed)     ALLISON  C.  DRAKE, 

Capt.  1st  Inf. 


93 


HEADQUARTERS 

MILITARY   DISTRICT   OF   COLORADO 
TRINIDAD,   COLORADO 

From :    Marion  D.  Work,  Second  Lieutenant,  First 

Infantry. 

To:    The  Commanding  Officer,  First  Infantry. 
Subject:   Keport   on   alleged   ill-treatment   of  Andy 

Colnar. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  November  28th, 
1913,  I  received  an  order  from  Capt.  A.  C.  Drake, 
instructing  me  to  arrest  and  hold  one  "Kink"  True, 
and  one  Andy  Colnar.  He  also  sent  me  a  pair  of 
handcuffs  and  further  instructed  me  to  allow  no  one 
to  talk  with  these  men,  keeping  them  in  separate 
rooms  and  using  the  handcuffs  on  one  of  the  prison- 
ers in  the  night  time  if  necessary.  That  evening, 
about  5  o'clock,  the  two  soldiers  who  had  been  de- 
tailed to  arrest  True  and  Colnar,  reported  in  with 
the  two  men.  Andy  Colnar  was  placed  in  the  assem- 
bly room,  where  there  were  several  soldiers.  "Kink" 
True  was  taken  upstairs  and  placed  in  a  room  with 
one  sentry  over  him.  That  night  Andy  Colnar  was 
given  a  bed  in  the  assembly  room  and  about  11  P.  M. 
was  handcuffed,  hands  in  front  of  him.  About  6 
o'clock  Saturday  morning,  (the  next  day)  the  hand- 
cuffs were  removed.  He  was  handcuffed  to  prevent  his 
escape,  as  I  did  not  have  the  soldiers  to  spare  in  order 
to  place  a  sentry  over  him.  He  was  given  a  good  break- 
fast and  about  9  :30  that  morning  was  interviewed 
by  Capt.  A.  C.  Drake.  During  that  day  he  sat  in 
the  assembly  room  near  a  comfortable  fire.  That  night 


94 


he  was  placed  in  the  jail  where  there  is  a  comfortable 
bed.  This  jail  is  a  concrete  place  about  7  ft.  by  10  ft. 
and  was  formerly  used  as  a  storehouse.  The  next  day 
about  8  A.  M.  he  was  taken  out  under  guard  and  set 
to  work  digging  a  hole  which  I  intended  to  use  for  a 
latrine.  The  old  latrine  was  dirty  and  in  an  unde- 
sirable place.  I  had  been  reprimanded  the  day  before 
by  Capt.  Drake  for  having  the  latrine  in  such  condi- 
tion. A  corporal  was  sent  out  to  measure  the  old 
latrine  and  also  the  hole  to  see  if  it  was  large  enough. 
Sometime  afterward  one  of  the  soldiers,  who  speaks 
Slavish  a  very  little,  was  going  by  the  place  where 
Colnar  was  working  and  said  "Good  Morning"  to  him 
in  the  Slavish  language.  Colnar  asked  this  soldier  if 
the  place  he  was  digging  was  a  grave.  The  soldier 
started  to  answer  him  when  the  call  for  drill  was 
sounded.  The  soldier  said  "I  don't  know"  and  ran 
to  where  the  detachment  had  been  falling  in.  An  in- 
spection of  quarters  and  of  the  detachment  had  been 
ordered  for  the  morning  and  took  place  at  10  A.  M. 
During  the  inspection  of  the  detachment  the  prisoner 
was  placed  in  an  interval  in  the  center  of  the  detach- 
ment. Inspection  being  over  Colnar  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  telephone  to  his  wife  and  babies.  The  re- 
quest was  refused  for  the  reason  that  Captain  Drake 
had  given  orders  that  he  be  allowed  to  talk  to  no  one. 
He  then  said  he  felt  sick  and  I  asked  him  if  he  wished 
to  go  to  the  latrine.  His  reply  was  unintelligible. 
He  was  then  taken  out  and  put  to  work  at  the  same 
place.  About  11 :30  he  was  brought  in  and  given  a 
good  dinner.  After  he  had  eaten  dinner  he  was  in- 
terviewed by  Capt.  Drake.  He  was  discharged  at 
1 :30  P.  M.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  determine, 
no  one  told  Andy  Colnar  that  he  was  digging  a  grave. 


95 


No  one  told  him  he  wa,s  to  be  shot  and  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  find  out  no  one  even  said  to  another 
that  the  place  resembled  a  grave.  It  is  possible 
although  not  probable  that  the  later  thing  could  have 
happened  without  my  knowledge.  To  the  best  of  my 
knowledge,  Andy  Colnar  was  not  measured  for  a 
grave  nor  did  he  fall  fainting  into  the  hole.  Close 
questioning  of  the  soldiers  comprising  the  Lester  de- 
tachment affirm  the  statements  that  he  was  not  told 
he  was  to  be  shot,  he  was  not  told  he  was  digging  a 
grave,  he  Avas  not  measured  and  he  did  not  fall  faint- 
ing in  the  hole.  I  did  not  ask  Andy  Colnar  to  what 
church  he  belonged  but  asked  him  for  the  reason  that 
I  wished  to  determine  his  nationality  as  I  knew  some 
Russians  belonged  to  the  Greek  Catholic  while  Mon- 
tenegrins, Hungarians  and  some  others  belonged  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

(Signed)     MARION  D.  WORK, 

2nd  Lieut.  1st.  Inf.  N.  G.  C. 


L 

REPORT— ALLEGED  PEONAGE  AT  HASTINGS  AND 
DELAGUA 

Hastings,  Colo.,  January  24,  1914. 

From :  The  Commanding  Officer  of  Company  L,  First 

Infantry. 
To:  The  Commanding  General,  Military  District  of 

Colorado. 
Subject :  Concerning  passes  for  civilians. 

1.  In  regard  to  the  manner  of  handling  civilians 
who  desired  to  leave  the  mining  camps  of  Hastings 
and  Delagua,  I  will  state  that  since  the  12th  day  of 


96 

November,  1913,  on  which  date  I  became  the  com- 
manding officer  of  "L"  Co.,  in  charge  of  these  two 
camps,  and  up  to  the  present  time,  all  civilians  who 
made  application  to  leave  the  camp  were  promptly 
given  proper  passes  and  at  no  time  has  the  military 
been  instrumental  in  detaining  any  one  who  desired 
to  Jeave  the  camp  or  quit  work,  and  no  'force  or  co- 
ercion used  in  this  direction. 

2.  When  civilians  were  found  wandering  about 
the  hills  near  the  camp  they  were  courteously  re- 
quested and  required  to  return  to  the  camp  and  ob- 
tain  proper  permission  from  the  officer  in  charge, 
this  was  deemed  a  proper  precaution  to  be  taken 
under  the  existing  circumstances. 

3.  It  is  inferred  from  a  certain  report  and  affi- 
davits that  a  man  was  killed  at  the  mine  at  Delagua 
during  December  1913,  while  trying  to  leave  the  mine 
and  quit  work  and  that  soldiers  under  my  command 
were  presumably  present  and  participated  in  this  de- 
tention; that  the  man  supposed  to  have  been  killed 
was  Hayes  and  that  a  man  by  the  name  of  Davis  was 
present,  but  upon  investigation  I  am  convinced  that 
no  such  occurrence  ever  took  place,  also  there  has  been 
no  man  by  the  name  of  Hayes  working  at  the  mine, 
neither  has  there  been  a  man  by  the  name  of  Davis  at 
the  mine  nor  in  the  Delagua  camp,  and  no  man  under 
my  command  has  ever  heard  of  the  death  of  a  man  as 
charged  in  the  affidavits,  until  the  contents  of  the 
affidavits  were  read.    My  information  is  that  no  man 
has  been  killed  at  the  mine  at  all,  during  the  time 
mentioned.    The  statements  in  regard  to  this  matter 
must  be  without  foundation. 

C.  D.  DAVIDSON, 
1st  Lieut.  1st  Inf.  Com'dg.,  Co.  "L." 


97 

"    M 

CORRESPONDENCE  AND  REPORTS— ALLEGED  DIS- 
TURBANCES AT  LUDLOW 

1 

TELEGRAM 
Trinidad,  Colo.,  December  31,  1913. 

HON.  ELIAS  M.  AMMONS, 

Governor  of  Colorado, 
Denver,  Colorado. 

We  did  not  expect  to  report  to  you  until  we  had 
completed  the  taking  of  testimony  at  all  camps  but 
in  our  judgment  the  following  serious  matter  should 
be  reported  to  you  at  once.  Lieut.  E.  K.  Linderfelt 
of  the  cavalry  stationed  at  Berwind  last  night  at 
Ludlow  brutally  assaulted  an  offensive  boy  in  the 
public  railroad  station  using  the  vilest  language  at 
the  same  time  he  also  assaulted  and  tried  to  provoke 
to  violence  Louis  Tikas,  Headman  of  Ludlow  Strikers 
Colony  and  arrested  him  unjustifiably  today  in  the 
presence  of  one  of  our  number  he  grossly  abused  a 
young  man  in  no  way  connected  with  the  strike  say- 
ing among  other  things  "I  am  Jesus  Christ  and  my 
men  on  horses  Jesus  Christ  and  we  must  be  obeyed" 
also  making  threats  against  the  strikers  in  foulest 
language  he  rages  violently  upon  little  or  no  provoca- 
tion and  is  wholly  an  unfit  man  to  bear  arms  and 
command  men  as  he  had  no  control  over  himself  we 
reason  to  believe  that  it  is  his  deliberate  purpose  to 


98 


provoke  the  strikers  to  bloodshed  in  the  interest  of 
peace  and  justice  we  ask  immediate  action  in  this 
case. 

JOHN   R.  LAWSON, 
FRANK  T.  MINER, 
JAMES  H.  BREWSTER, 
JAMES  KIRWAN, 

ELI  M.  GROSS, 

Committee. 


2 
LETTER 


January  17,  1914. 


From:    Commanding  General,  M.  D.   C. 
To:   Major  P.  J.  Hamrock,  Ludlow,  Colo. 
Subject:    Investigation  of  charges. 

I  am  enclosing  herewith  a  telegram  transmitted 
to  me  by  his  Excellency,  Elias  M.  Ammons,  Governor 
of  Colorado,  with  directions  that  report  be  rendered 
thereon.  I  wish  you  to  investigate  this  matter  at 
once.  You  will  also  investigate  and  report  on  the 
alleged  actions  of  Lieutenant  Linderfelt  last  night  in 
filling  the  well  used  by  the  tent  colony  at  Ludlow 
with  wire. 

(Signed)     JOHN   CHASE. 


99 

3 

REPORT 

Ludlow,  Colo.,  January  1,  1914. 

From :  Lieutenant  F.  S.  Doll, 
To :  The  Commanding  Officer,  Ludlow  District. 
Subject:  Report  on  disturbance  at  Ludlow  railroad 
station,  January  1,  1914. 

1.  Lieut.  Linderfelt  entered  station  at  about  7 :15 
P.  M.  saw  Pvt.  Cuthbertson,  one  of  his  men  who  had 
been  thrown  from  his  horse  and  apparently  seriously 
injured  by  a  barbed  wire  stretched  across  the  road 
near  Tent  Colony.  Lieut.  Linderfelts  men  reported 
that  people  of  colony  had  stretched  wire  maliciously. 

Under  circumstances  Lieut.  Linderfelt  displayed 
justifiable  temper,  went  to  Louis  Tikas  who  stood  in 
station,  swore  at  him  and  ordered  him  outside  of  sta- 
tion where  the  Lieut,  forcibly  pushed  him  against 
wall  and  ordered  Tikas  to  tell  what  he  knew  about 
wire.  Tikas  pleaded  ignorance  and  Linderfelt  threat- 
ened to  hit  him.  I  told  Linderfelt  to  stop  the  rough 
method  that  if  he  saw  fit  we  would  arrest  Tikas  and 
take  him  before  Major  Kennedy,  this  was  done. 

Mr.  Farver  (agent  for  C.  &  C. )  called  me  into 
station  and  pointed  out  boy  whose  head  was  cut, 
Farber  complained  that  Lieut.  Linderfelt  had  hit  boy. 
Investigation  proved  that  the  boy  did  not  know  who 
hit  him  and  nobody  saw  Linderfelt  or  his  men  hit  boy. 
Lieut.  Linderfelt  said  he  did  not  hit  boy,  but  arrested 
him.  Boy  had  scratch  on  head  which  our  hospital 
man  dressed. 


100 


Further  investigation  brought  forth  conflicting 
statements  from  Lieut.  Linderfelt's  men  concerning 
wire,  and  people  of  colony  pleaded  innocence. 

(Signed)     FREDERICK  S.  DOLL. 


4 
REPORT 

Aguilar,  Colo.,  January  18,  1914. 

From:  Major  P.  J.  Hamrock, 

To :  Commanding  General,  M.  D.  C. 

Subject:  Investigation  of  charges. 

1.  In  compliance  with  your  order  of  January 
14th,  1914,  I  went  to  Ludlow  and  found  Louis  Tikas.  I 
did  not  find  the  boy  that  Lieut.  Linderfelt  is  accused 
of  striking.  I  questioned  a  number  of  men  and  find  that 
there  is  a  very  bad  feeling  at  the  tent  colony  toward 
Lieut.  Linderfelt.  They  say  that  he  was  mine  guard 
before  the  militia  was  called  out,  and  John  R.  Lawson 
speaking  of  Lieut.  Linderfelt  said  to  Capt.  Van  Cise 
and  a  number  of  his  men  at  the  Ludlow  depot,  "We 
will  get  him  yet." 

I  find  that  wire  was  strung  across  the  road  on  the 
night  of  Dec.  7th,  1913,  resulting  in  the  injury  of 
Col.  Cuthbertson  by  being  thrown  from  his  horse. 
Again  on  the  night  of  Dec.  30th,  1913,  wire  was  strung 
across  the  road.  Lieut.  Linderfelt  ordered  some  of 
his  men  that  had  wire-cutters  to  cut  the  wire,  they 
cut  the  wire  in  short  lengths  and  dropped  it  in  a  well 
about  100  yards  south  of  the  tent  colony. 


101 


When  Lieut.  Linderfelt  arrived  at  the  Ludlow 
station,  Louis  Tikas  was  there  and  Linderfelt  accused 
him  of  knowing  w^ho  put  the  wire  across  the  road. 
Tikas  said  he  did  not  know,  Linderfelt  then  pushed 
him  out  on  the  platform  and  told  him  to  tell  the 
truth.  Tikas  was  then  confronted  with  a  boy  who 
claimed  to  be  known  by  him,  but  he,  Tikas  denied 
any  knowledge  of  the  boy,  thereupon  he  was  placed 
under  arrest  and  sent  to  Major  Kennedy  under  guard. 
Tikas  later  admitted  to  me  that  he  knew  the  boy  and 
that  he  had  been  in  the  tent  colony  most  of  that  day. 
Tikas  also  said  the  boy  is  a  member  of  the  union  but 
does  not  live  in  the  colony. 

2.  I  find  that  the  telegram  to  Governor  Ammons 
is  biased  and  very  much  exaggerated.  I  can  find  no 
one  who  saw  Lieut.  Linderfelt  strike  or  assault  either 
Mr.  Tikas  or  the  boy.  I  do  find  that  Lieut.  Linder- 
felt upon  pushing  Tikas  from  the  depot  to  the  plat- 
form, swore  at  him. 

(Signed)     P.  J.  HAMROCK, 

Commanding  Camp  at  Aguilar. 


102 

5 
REPORT 

Berwind,  Colo. 

From :  K.  E.  Linderfelt,  First  Lieutenant  and  Batt'n. 
Adjutant,  Second  Infantry, 

To :  Major  P.  J.  Hamrock,  Commanding  Ludlow  Dis- 
trict. 

Subject :  Report  of  telegram  sent  to  the  Governor. 

1.  Lieut.  K.  E.  Linderfelt  of  the  cavalry  sta- 
tioned at  Berwind  last  night  at  Ludlow  brutally  as- 
saulted an  inoffensive  boy  in  the  public  railroad  sta- 
tion, using  the  vilest  language  at  the  same  time.    He 
also  assaulted  and  tried  to  provoke  to  violence  Louis 
Tikas,  headman  at  the  LudloAv  striker's  colony,  and  ar- 
rested him  unjustifiably.     Today  in  the  presence  of 
one  of  our  members,  he  grossly  abused  a  young  man 
in  no  way  connected  with  the  strike,  saying  among 
other  things,  "I  am  Jesus  Christ,  and  my  men  on 
horses  are  Jesus  Christs,  and  we  must  be  obeyed," 
also  making  threats  against  the  strikers  in  the  foulest 
language.    He  rages  violently  on  little  or  no  provoca- 
tion and  is  wholly  an  unfit  man  to  bear  arms  and  com- 
mand men,  as  he  has  not  control  over  his  men.    We 
have  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  his  deliberate  purpose 
to  provoke  the  strikers  to  bloodshed.    In  the  interest 
of  peace  and  justice,  we  ask  immediate  action  in  his 
case.    Signed. 

2.  The  telegram  sent  by  John  R.  Lawson  and 
committee  is  only  a  fabrication  of    their    own    evil 
minds. 


103 


3.  On  the  evening  of  the  30th  of  Dec.  a  patrol 
from  my  company  under  command  of  Sgt.  Taylor  was 
returning  from  Barnes  and  when  opposite  the  Lud- 
low  tent  colony  in  the  county  road,  Cpl.  Cuthbertson's 
horse  struck  a  double  strand  of  barbed  wire  with  his 
knees  and  became  unmanagable  and  entangled  him- 
self in  the  wire  in  such  a  mananer  that  the  corporal 
was  thrown  and  severely  injured  and  the  horses  was 
cut  in  several  places  by  the  barbs  on  the  wire.  Earlier 
in  the  evening  I  had  passed  this  place  accompanied  by 
1st  Sgt.  Casey,  Q.  M.  Sgt.  MacDonald  and  Sgt.  Davis 
and  Sgt.  MacDonald  who  was  in  front  dismounted 
and  tore  down  what  appeared  to  be  a  barb  wire  en- 
tanglement placed  across  the  county  road  for  the  de- 
liberate purpose  of  throwing  our  mounted  patrol  and 
killing  or  wounding  our  men  if  possible.  Since  then, 
on  the  7th  of  present  month,  another  wire  entangle- 
ment was  found  almost  in  the  same  place  by  one  of  my 
men,  which  we  removed.  On  the  night  of  the  30th  of 
Dec.  1913 — after  Corpl.  Cuthbertson  had  been  in- 
jured, I  was  at  the  Ludlow  depot  with  a  mounted 
patrol,  an  enlisted  man  of  Co.  "K"  1st  Infty.  reported 
to  me  that  he  could  show  me  the  man  who  had  placed 
the  wire  which  had  been  the  cause  of  Corpl.  Cuthbert- 
son's injury  and  I  had  him  point  out  the  man,  who  I 
placed  under  arrest. 

The  man  did  not  resist  arrest  neither  did  I  or  any 
of  my  men  strike  him  or  in  any  way  injure  him  or  at- 
tempt to  intimidate  him,  he  told  me  that  Louis  Tikas, 
commonly  called  "Louie  the  Greek"  knew  him  and 
could  tell  where  he  was  during  the  day. 

I  immediately  placed  Louie  the  Greek  under  ar- 
rest and  asked  him  who  this  man  was  and  where  he 


104 

had  been  during  the  time  the  wire  had  been  put  in 
place  and  removed  and  he  (Louie)  denied  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  man,  saying  that  he  had  never  seen  him  be- 
fore— which  he  afterwards  admitted  was  a  lie. 

I  then  turned  both  men  over  to  the  Depot  Guard, 
composed  of  men  from  Co.  K  1st  Infty.,  as  prisoners, 
as  I  was  and  am  now  thoroughly  satisfied  that  Louie 
the  Greek  ordered  the  wire  placed  across  the  road, 
and  knows  who  did  put  it  up. 

Louie  the  Greek  has  had  the  control  of  the 
Strikers  Ludlow  Colony  since  John  R.  Lawson  admit- 
ted that  he  could  not  control  the  men  in  the  colony 
after  arming  them,  he,  Louie,  has  repeatedly  sent  word 
indirectly  to  myself  and  men  of  my  command  that 
they — the  Greeks  in  the  strikers  colony  would  kil-1 
every  one  of  us  when  we  were  relieved  from  duty  as 
members  of  the  National  Guard  of  Colorado. 

4.  I  know  and  every  person  who  knows  anything 
regarding  military  service  knows  that  I  have  perfect 
control  over  my  men  and  in  sixteen  years  service, 
Regular,  Volunteer  and  National  Guard  service,  under 
this  and  other  flags,  I  have  always  been  able  to  con- 
trol my  men. 

5.  My  deliberate  purpose  is  not  to  cause  blood- 
shed but  to  enforce    the    law    against    all    outlaws, 
strikers  in  the  Ludlow  colony,  Coal  Barons  murders 
or  anyone  else  who  violates  either  the  law  of  Colo- 
rado or  the  United  States  as  is  my  sworn  duty. 

The  sworn  duty  of  either  an  officer  or  enlisted 
man  in  any  army  is  obedience  of  orders  from  his  su- 
perior and  to  uphold  the  laws  and  I  have  simply  done 
my  duty  as  a  soldier. 


105 


6.  John  K.  Lawson  made  the  remark  to  Lt. 
Fisher  Co.  "K"  2nd  Infty  that  he  would  get  me  yet. 
This  from  a  member  of  the  committee  who  signed  the 
telegram  to  Gov.  Ammons. 

(Signed)     K.  E.  LINDERFELT. 


N 
REPORTS— JASSINSKY  INCIDENT 

1 
REPORT 

Trinidad,  Colo.,  February  13th,  1913. 

From :  Captain  Ed.  A.  Smith, 
To :  The  Commanding  General. 

Subject :  Investigation  of  Jassinski  complaint  against 
Sergeant  Arnold. 

1.  Pursuant  to  your  order  of  February  13th,  I 
proceeded  on  the  nine  o'clock  C.  &  C.  Train  to  Forbes 
Junction,  where  I  was  met  by  Captain  Ainsley  and 
orderly  and  taken  to  camp  at  Forbes.  I  then  inter- 
viewed Captain  Ainsely,  Sergeant  Arnold,  Lieutenant 
Olinger,  and  several  of  the  enlisted  men.  They  all 
spoke  of  the  high  character  of  Sergeant  Arnold,  of 
the  fact  that  to  their  knowledge,  and  they  were  in  a 
position  to  have  knowledge,  that  he  had  not  made  any 
showing  of  having  any  extra  money  or  had  there  been 
anything  unusual  about  his  demeanor  since  the  act 
complained  of.  Sergeant  Arnold  told  a  very  straight- 
forward story,  completely  at  variance  with  the  story 
told  by  the  young  man  when  in  the  Judge  Advocate's 
Office. 


106 


2.  When  I  had  finished  interviewing  the  man  at 
Forbes,  I  procured  horse  and  accompanied  by  Ser- 
geant Arnold  rode  to  the  ranch  of  the  people  who  made 
the  complaint.     I  looked  at  the  trunks  said  to  have 
been  broken  up.    There  were  three  thunks  in  the  room, 
all  of  which  the  Sergeant  informs  me  he  examined, 
but  of  which  the  young  boy  says  he  only  examined 
one  and  broke  that  open  with  a  hatchet.     The  Ser- 
geant claims  the  three  trunks  were  unlocked  and  he 
examined  all  of  them.     The  woman  and  boy  showed 
me  the  trunk  which  they  claim  the  Sergeant  broke 
into,  using  a  hatchet,  which  I  examined  very  closely 
and  was  unable  to  see  any  evidence  whatsoever  of 
the  trunk  having  been  broken  open — there  being  no 
marks  or  scratches  such  as  would  have  been  made^ 
if  the  trunk  had  been  broken  into,  as  alleged,  with 
a  hatchet.    The  young  boy  was  considerably  mixed  in 
his  story  that  he  told  at  the  office  of  the  Judge  Advo- 
cate, when  he  told  it  at  the  house,  and  seemed  to  be 
inclined  to  answer  "Yes"  to  most  any  question  which 
was  asked  that  would  look  bad  for  the  Sergeant. 

3.  After  finishing  my  investigation  at  the  com- 
plainant's house,  I  rode  on  to  the  tent  colony  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  nearer  town,  where  the  Ser- 
geant had  been  just  prior  to  the  time  that  the  visit 
was  made  to  this  complainant's  house.     There  I  saw 
the  leader  of  the  colony,  also  the  subleader  and  sev- 
eral  other  members  of  the   Suffield   Colony.      They 
talked  very  freely  to  me  and  informed  me  that  the 
Sergeant  had  been  most  careful  and  courteous  in  his 
treatment  of  them  when  he  searched  the  colony,  and 
when  I  asked  them  if  he  gave  any  indication  of  hav- 
ing been  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  each  and  every 
man  in  the  colony  that  I  spoke  to  informed  me  that 


107 


he  was  perfectly  and  strictly  sober  when  he  was  at 
the  colony.  The  leaders  of  the  colony  gave  a  great 
deal  of  complaint  against  this  family,  stating  that  the 
boy  and  on  one  or  two  occasions  had  a  knife  in  his 
possession,  boasted  he  was  a  scab  and  had  made  threats 
against  the  children  of  the  colony  people ;  that  the  man 
Jassinski,  who  lives  at  this  ranch,  had  made  a  great 
many  threats  toward  the  men  in  the  colony,  boasting 
that  he  is  a  non-union  man  and  had  threatened  to  kill 
them ;  that  on  several  occasions  he  had  taken  a  gun 
in  his  hands,  called  them  scabs,  and  told  them  he  would 
kill  them.  They  also  complained  about  a  great  deal 
of  shooting  going  on  at  this  man's  house.  All  of  them 
seemed  unanimously  of  the  opinion  he  still  had  arms, 
claiming  positively  he  still  has  a  revolver;  and  from 
all  I  am  told  I  am  strongly  of  the  belief  that  the  cart- 
ridges which  they  picked  up  and  mentioned  in  ser- 
geant's Arnold's  report  are  cartridges  for  the  revolver 
which  is  still  in  his  possession. 

4.  Captain  Insley,  when  I  was  at  his  camp,  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  taken  up  a  22  rifle  from  these 
people,  and  that  the  boy  pointed  out  a  house  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  house  occupied  by  complain- 
ant in  this  matter,  where  he  claims  there  are  a  con- 
siderable number  of  rifles  hidden.     Captain   Insley 
informed  me  he  had  this  information  from  three  other 
sources,  and  was  strongly  of  the  belief  he  would  find 
rifles  there  if  he  was  authorized  to  search  the  place 
in  a  thorough  manner. 

5.  After  finishing  my  interview  with  the  people 
at  the  tent  colony,  I  proceeded  on  to  Trinidad,  Ke- 
porting  to  the  Commanding  General  in  person  at  2 :15 
February  14th,  1913. 


108 


6.  I  am  enclosing  herewith  copy  of  the  statements 
made  to  the  Judge  Advocate's  Office,  by  the  woman 
and  boy  in  this  matter;  also  returning  the  report  of 
Captain  Insley  and  Sergeant  Arnold. 

(Signed)     ED.  A.  SMITH. 
(Encs.  four.) 


STATEMENT 

February  13,  1914. 

Gustav  Sninsky — 11  years  old.  Live  on  ranch  on 
D.  &  R.  G.  Tracks,  one  half  mile  North  of  Suffield 
Colony.  On  Tuesday,  February  3d,  1914,  about  four 
o'clock  P.  M.,  my  brothers  and  sister  and  myself  were 
playing  in  the  bed  room,  and  a  soldier  came  to  the 
kitchen  door  and  opened  it  and  walked  in  and  asked 
if  we  had  any  rifles.  I  answered  "No,"  and  he  said 
there  was  a  22  hanging  on  the  wall  and  he  took  it 
down  from  the  wall,  saying  have  you  got  any  more. 
I  said  no,  and  he  then  took  the  hatchet  and  broke  the 
lock  on  a  trunk  in  the  room.  I  told  him  not  to  open 
the  trunk  and  he  commenced  to  throw  out  the  clothes 
and  found  ten  or  eleven  cartridges  (30-40),  and  he 
then  asked  where  the  rifle  was,  and  I  told  him  I  had 
no  rifle,  and  when  I  told  him  not  to  go  into  the  trunk 
he  chased  us  out  into  the  kitchen,  kicked  me  and  my 
brother  in  the  back  and  my  sister  in  the  elbow  and 
another  sister  in  the  nose.  He  threw  our  clothes  out 
of  the  trunk  and  mattress  on  the  bed,  threw  the  sew- 
ing machine  over.  When  he  threw  the  clothes  out  of 


109 


the  trunk  he  took  a  hand  bag  put  of  the  sleeve  of  a  coat 
in  the  bottom  the  trunk  and  took  bills,  silver  and 
gold  out  of  the  hand  bag  and  put  it  in  his  pocket, 
and  threw  the  hand  bag  under  the  bed.  He  then  looked 
all  around  the  room  and  went  into  the  kitchen  and 
seached  there.  He  opened  a  cupboard,  took  some  eggs 
from  it  and  broke  and  ate  some  and  broke  some  on 
the  floor.  He  then  went  out  to  a  buggy  that  was  close 
to  the  house  with  a  man  sitting  in  it  and  tried  to  get 
into  it.  He  fell  down  twice  while  trying  to  get  into 
it,  and  then  got  in.  The  man  in  the  buggy  had  some 
beer  and  was  drunk.  The  man  that  was  in  the  house 
had  a  bottle  whiskey  in  his  pocket  that  he  drank  from 
while  in  the  house,  and  when  the  man  got  in  the  buggy 
he  said  to  the  other  man  I  got  a  22  and  some  bullets. 
He  then  started  the  horse  and  went  down  along  the 
D.  &  K.  G.  tracks  towards  Forbes.  The  man  in  the 
buggy  had  glasses  on  his  eyes,  mustache  and  brown 
short  whiskers  on  his  chin. 


STATEMENT 

Victoria  Jasnski.  Came  home  about  4.30.  Found 
children  crying,  and  husband  went  into  the  house. 
I  went  into  the  house  and  found  bed  mussed,  pillow 
and  mattres  on  floor,  trunk  open  and  everything  on 
floor,  found  hand  bag  under  the  bed  with  2  little  rings 
and  a  bracelet  in  it.  The  kitchen  dishes  were  broken 
on  the  floor,  eggs  on  the  floor,  and  very  bad,  dirty. 

Mrs.  Waldron.  Red  382.  Bowen.  Husband  runs 
a  saloon. 


110 

4 

REPORT 
Camp  at  Forbes,  February  11,  1914. 

From :  Captain  H.  E.  Insley. 
To :  Commanding  Officer,  M.  D.  C. 
Subject:    Conditions  at  Forbes  and  surrounding  ter- 
ritory. 

1.  The  Commanding  Officer  of  this  Camp  went 
to  Trinidad  Monday  for  the  purpose  of  appearing 
before  a  Notary  and  attend  to  papers  pertaining  to 
a  mortgage  on  his  home.     He  drove  in  accompanied 
by  duty  Sergeant  H.  A.  Arnold.     Signed  said  papers 
and  proceeded  to  Camp  Forbes  Tuesday  morning  Feb- 
ruary 10. 

2.  In  line  with  orders  given  him  by  Captain  E. 
A.  Smith  of  the  military  commission,  the  colony  at 
Suffield  was  visited,  searched,  and  inspected.    Seventy 
Three  men  are  in  said  colony.     There  was  no  trouble 
the  strike  leaders  being  most  courteous.    One  revolver 
and  one  shot  gun  was  found.     Information  reaches 
me  there  are  at  one  of  the  near  by  ranch  houses,  50 
rifles  hidden.    It  was  believed  these  rifles  were  at  the 
home  of  a  known  strike  sympathizer  near  the  Tent 
Colony.     Said  house  was  searched  by  Sergeant  Ar- 
nold, Captain  Insley  sitting  in  the  buggy. 

3.  One  11  year  old  boy  accompanied  by  his  little 
sisters  were  with  the  Sergeant  during  the  search. 
Three  trunks  were  found  the  lids  lifted  and  one  22 
cal.  rifle  was  found  also  some  38-40  cal.  shells  were 
found.    The  boy  suggested  where  probably  the  50  rifles 
were  hidden  at  a  ranch  house  several  miles  away. 


Ill 


4.  It  was  not  deemed  wise  to  attempt  to  get  said 
rifles  when  there  was  but  two  of  us  to  make  the  search. 

5.  There  absolutely  was  no  money  found  in  the 
house.     Sergeant  Arnold  who  searched  the  premises 
is  one  of  my  oldest  and  best  non-commissioned  officers. 
Under  no  circumstances  would  he  take  money.    It  is 
my  belief  the  striker  who  claimed  to  have  lost  $200.00, 
makes  this  statement,  simply  for  a  supposed  effect. 

HARRY  E.  INSLEY, 

Captain  1st.  Infantry, 
Commanding  Co.  "B." 


5 
REPORT 

Camp  at  Forbes. 

From :  Sergeant  H.  A.  Arnold, 
To :  Commanding  Officer,  M.  D.  C. 
Subject:    Searching  of  tent  colony  and  ranch  house 
at  Suffield. 

Captain  Insley  and  I,  Serg't  Arnold  went  into 
the  town  of  Trinidad  in  a  one-horse  buggy.  Captain 
Insley  having  some  legal  papers  to  attend  to. 

The  Captain  and  I  started  for  Forbes  on  the 
morning  of  the  tenth  at  11:30  o'clock,  arrived  at 
Bowen  at  12 :15  o'clock,  where  we  asked  a  civilian  who 
seems  to  know  all  about  the  strikers,  to  go  with  us  he 
declined. 

The  Captain  and  I  under  his,  the  captain's  orders, 
proceeded  to  the  Tent  Colony,  driving  the  horse  on 


112 


the  south  side  of  the  Colony  where  a  cut  10  feet  deep 
separated  us  from  the  tent  colony.  I  tied  the  horse 
to  a  fence-post  and  acting  under  Captain  Insley's  or- 
ders, I  got  over  the  ditch  and  into  the  strikers  colony 
about  20  men  were  there  to  meet  me  when  I  arrived.  I 
asked  for  the  leader  and  they  told  me  he  was  in  Lud- 
low,  I  then  asked  for  the  second  leader  who  proved  to 
be  Ben  Freeman.  I  told  him  the  Captain  would  like 
to  see  him  and  the  Captain  interviewed  him.  He 
turned.  I,  under  the  captain's  orders  went  back  to 
camp  with  him,  I  told  him  I  wanted  all  the  guns  he 
and  his  men  had  they  willfully  produced  1  shot-gun 
this  was  the  property  of  Andy  Marsello,  and  a  nickel 
plated  32  cal.  revolver  this  belonging  to  Ben  Free- 
man. 

I  then  asked  Ben  Freeman  to  go  through  every 
tent  with  me  while  I  made  a  search  he  did.  The 
strikers  who  are  mostly  Slavs  were  very  courteous  to 
the  Captain  and  I  and  we  stayed  about  one  and  one- 
half  hours  with  them. 

The  Captain  and  I  then  proceeded  north  and  went 
to  the  ranch  house  where  firearms  were  said  to  be  by 
both  strikers  and  saloonkeeper  at  Bowen,  the  Captain 
sat  in  the  buggy  while  I  went  into  the  home,  a  boy  of 
about  11  to  12  years  old  was  in  the  house  with  3 
smaller  sisters,  the  boy  watched  me  make  the  search, 
3  trunks  were  looked  into  by  me  in  one  was  about 
10-38-40  cl.  revolver  shells  which  I  confiscated  also  a 
22  cal.  rifle. 

The  boy  pointed  out  two  other  houses  where 
many  guns  are  supposed  to  be  either  hidden  in  the 
house  or  nearby. 


113 


We  then  continued  our  journey  on  to  Forbes  ar- 
riving at  about  3:45  o'clock  that  evening,  all  the 
searching  was  in  broad  day  light  on  the  Tenth  of 
February,  1913. 

SGT.  H.  A.  ARNOLD, 

Co.  "B,"  1st  Infantry. 


Bancroft  Ubwy 
O 

REPORT— ALLEGED  INTERRUPTION  OF 
FUNERAL 

STATEMENT  OF  WARD  J.  WATSON  MADE  IN 
REGARD  TO  THE  ALLEGED  BREAKING- 
UP  OF  FUNERAL  PROCESSION  ON  MAIN 
STREET,  TRINIDAD,  COLORADO 

On  the  day  of  this  occurrence  I  was  going  to  the 
San  Rafael  Military  Camp,  Trinidad,  Colorado,  act- 
ing as  Chauffeur  for  General  Chase,  when  I  encoun- 
tered on  the  way  a  funeral  procession.  Right  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill  as  you  enter  the  militarj^  camp  I 
reached  the  rear  end  of  the  aforesaid  funeral  proces- 
sion. When  arriving  at  the  rear  end  of  the  procession  I 
attempted  to  pass  by  them  without  in  any  way  molest- 
ing or  interfering  with  them,  but  as  I  approached 
some  called  to  me  "Baldwin-Feltz  Thug"  others  Scab- 
Herding  Son-of-a-bitch,  at  the  same  time  attempting 
to  board  the  automobile.  Realizing  if  they  succeeded 
in  getting  on  the  automobile  they  might  do  me  bodily 
violence,  I  pulled  my  six  shooter  from  my  pocket,  and 
as  one  of  these  men  got  on  the  car  I  struck  at  him, 
knocking  him  off  the  car.  I  did  not  hit  him  where  I 


114 


aimed  on  account  of  having  to  guide  the  car  and  strike 
at  him  with  my  unused  hand.  I  then  turned  the  car 
into  the  middle  of  the  procession  and  ran  the  car 
through  the  procession,  turning  out  which  I  reached 
the  procession  of  buggies  and  cabs.  I  then  swung 
to  the  side  of  the  buggies,  cabs,  and  the  hearse, 
and  went  on  into  the  military  camp.  I  would  have 
gone  on  by  the  procession  without  in  any  manner 
interfering  with  them,  but  when  they  called  me  these 
names,  and  attempted  to  get  on  the  automobile,  I  felt 
it  was  necessary  for  me  to  protect  myself  and  took 
this  means  to  accomplish  my  purpose.  I  in  no  other 
manner  than  as  above  described  interfered  with  the 
procession,  and  it  went  on  its  way  after  I  passed  by 
the  men  marching  in  the  procession. 

(Signed)     WARD  J.  WATSON. 


P 

TELEGRAM  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES 

I  am  directed  by  the  Governor  of  Colorado  to  in- 
form the  President  of  thellnited  States  that  one  Mary 
Jones,  alias  "Mother"  Jones,  is  and  always  has  been 
at  entire  liberty  to  leave  the  disturbed  district,  but 
insists  upon  remaining,  avowedly  to  make  incendiary 
speeches.  She  is  confined  with  comfort  in  a  pleasant 
room  in  a  large  church  hospital,  as  a  necessary  peace 
precaution,  in  view  of  her  history  elsewhere.  March 
8  a  non-union  miner  was  atrociously  murdered  near 
the  union  tent  colony  at  Forbes  in  the  strike  zone,  to 
which  colony  the  murderers  were  easily  tracked.  This 


115 


murder  was  significant  just  at  this  time.  At  the 
urgent  request  of  the  sheriff,  all  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  small  colony  were  arrested — sixteen  men.  There 
were  no  women  or  children.  The  tents  were  ordered 
removed,  to  forestall  further  outlawry. 

Colorado  has  maintained  peace  and  preserved  its 
constitution  and  laws  with  its  own  patriotic  volunteer 
militia,  thankless,  self-sacrificing,  patiently,  silent  un- 
der abuse.  The  silence  that  military  rule  and  neces- 
sity enjoin  I  am  directed  to  break,  that  the  President 
may  be  advised. 

(Signed)     JOHN  CHASE, 

Brigadier  General, 
Commanding  the  Military  District  of  Colorado. 


Q 

REPORT— LABOR  COMMISSIONERS 

OFFICE    OF   COMMANDING   OFFICER 
COMPANY    B,,   FIRST   INFANTRY 

Forbes,  Colo.,  February  9,  1914. 

To :   Major  Williams,  camp  at  Trinidad,  Colorado. 
Subject:   Labor  Commissioners. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  January,  two  men 
drove  up  to  the  Sentry  on  post  at  the  Mine  Office  at 
Forbes  and  asked  permission  to  inspect  conditions  of 
the  camp. 

They  told  him  that  they  were  State  Labor  Com- 
missioners giving  their  names  and  wanted  permission 
to  inspect  the  camp;  the  sentry  telephoned  to  head- 
quarters asking  what  to  do.  I  told  him  to  send  them 
to  headquarters  which  he  did. 


in; 


One  of  them  named  Gross  claimed  to  be  a  State 
Labor  Commissioner  and  with  his  deputy  were  in- 
specting the  mining  camps. 

After  giving  them  dinner,  I  telephoned  Mr. 
Nichols  the  Superintendent  of  Forbes  Camp  asking 
him  if  he  wanted  to  let  them  in,  he  did  not  know  who 
they  were  but  told  me  to  send  them  to  him  first, 
which  I  did  sending  a  guard  with  them.  He  then 
telephoned  me  that  he  did  not  know  who  they  were. 

I  then  telephoned  Major  Williams  asking  his 
orders  in  regard  to  them.  Major  Williams  ordered 
them  to  be  put  out  of  camp  instantly  and  to  be  kept 
out;  stating  at  the  same  time  that  they  had  no  right 
to  inspect  the  camp  or  to  interview  the  men,  and  ask- 
ing me  if  I  understood  my  instructions  in  regard  to 
handling  them. 

I  immediately  sent  a  man  on  horseback  to  bring 
them  in,  he  found  them  waiting  near  the  mine  to 
interview  the  miners  when  they  came  off  shift. 

Upon  being  brought  back  to  headquarters  they 
expressed  surprise  at  being  ordered  to  quit  the  camp 
after  being  let  in  but  would  leave  under  protest. 

I  told  them  that  I  had  orders  to  that  effect  and 
they  got  into  their  buggy  and  drove  out,  the  guard 
at  the  gate  being  instructed  to  see  that  they  did  not 
return. 

Resp.  Yours 

(Signed)     H.  W.  OLINGEE, 

and  Lieut.  1st.  Infantry. 
Copy  to  General  Chase. 


117 


RECOMMENDATION  OF  GRAND  JURY,  CONTAINED 
IN  ITS  REPORT  TO  THE  DISTRICT  COURT  OF 
LAS  ANIMAS  COUNTY,  FEBRUARY,  1914 

Fifth,  That  our  investigations  of  the  Industrial 
Disturbances,  growing  out  of  the  recent  labor  trou- 
bles, has  led  the  Grand  Jury  to  believe  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  have  the  State  militia  sta- 
tioned in  this  county,  in  order  to  protect  life  and 
property. 

We  feel  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  militia  from 
this  district  at  this  time,  would  be  very  unwise. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Grand  Jury,  that  the 
State  troops,  should  be  kept  in  this  district  until  the 
present  coal  miners  strike  has  been  settled,  or  some 
agreement  reached  between  the  striking  miners  and 
the  coal  operators,  that  would  insure  the  good  citi- 
zens of  this  county,  a  speedy  return  of  the  conditions 
that  prevailed  before  the  calling  of  the  present  strike. 


s 

RESOLUTION 
HOUSE  RESOLUTION  387 

IN  THE   HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES^,   U.   S. 

January  27,  1914. 

Resolved,  That  the  House  Committee  on  Mines 
and  Mining  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  make 
a  thorough  and  complete  investigation  of  the  condi- 
tions existing  in  the  coal  fields  in  the  counties  of 
La.s  Animas,  Huerfano,  Fremont,  Grand,  Routt, 


118 


Boulder,  Weld,  and  other  counties  in  the  State  of 
Colorado;  and  in  and  about  the  copper  mines  in  the 
counties  of  Houghton,  Kewaanew,  and  Ontonagon,  in 
the  State  of  Michigan,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertain- 
ing— 

First.  Whether  or  not  any  system  of  peonage 
has  been  or  is  being  maintained  in  said  coal  or  cop- 
per fields. 

Second.  Whether  or  not  postal  services  and 
facilities  have  been  or  are  being  interfered  with  or 
obstructed  in  said  coal  or  copper  fields;  and  if  so, 
by  whom. 

Third.  Whether  or  not  the  immigration  laws 
of  this  country  have  been  or  are  being  violated  in  said 
coal  or  copper  fields;  and  if  so,  by  whom. 

Fourth.  Investigate  and  report  all  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances relating  to  the  charge  that  citizens  of  the 
United  States  have  been  arrested,  tried,  or  convicted 
contrary  to  or  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  or  the 
laws  of  the  United  States. 

Fifth.  Investigate  and  report  whether  the  con- 
ditions existing  in  said  coal  fields  in  Colorado  and  in 
said  copper  fields  in  Michigan  have  been  caused  by 
agreements  and  combinations  entered  into  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of 
controlling  the  production,  sale,  and  transportation 
of  the  coal  and  copper  of  these  fields. 

Sixth.  Investigate  and  report  whether  or  not 
firearms,  ammunition,  and  explosives  have  been 
shipped  into  the  saici  coal  and  copper  fields,  with  the 
purpose  to  exclude  the  products  of  the  said  fields 
from  competitive  markets  in  interstate  trade;  and  if 
so,  by  whom  and  by  whom  paid  for. 


119 


Seventh.  If  any  or  all  of  these  conditions  exist/ 
the  causes  leading  up  to  said  conditions. 

Said  committee  or  any  subcommittee  thereof  is 
hereby  empowered  to  sit  and  act  during  the  session  or 
recess  of  Congress,  or  either  House  thereof,  at  such 
time  and  place*  as  it  may  deem  necessary ;  to  require 
by  subpoena  or  otherwise  the  attendance  of  witnesses, 
and  the  production  of  papers,  books,  and  documents; 
to  employ  stenographers  and  such  other  clerical  as- 
sistance as  may  be  necessary.  The  chairman  of  the 
committee  or  any  member  thereof  may  administer 
oaths  to  witnesses. 

Attest : 

SOUTH   TEIMBLE, 

Clerk. 


